When to Plant Cantaloupes in Auburn, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can estimate when to plant cantaloupes in Auburn by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

Frost tolerance for cantaloupes: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

Since cantaloupes are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant cantaloupes
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant cantaloupes
Probably not a good time to plant cantaloupes

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Auburn is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant cantaloupes and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your cantaloupes may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cantaloupes indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Auburn. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Auburn is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Auburn last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your cantaloupes in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Auburn

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Auburn

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Auburn.