One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Eureka you can figure out when it's the best time to plant cantaloupes by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

Since cantaloupes require warm weather it is important to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Eureka 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. Any later than that and your cantaloupes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your cantaloupes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Remember that USDA zone info for Eureka is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Eureka it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your cantaloupes in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Eureka

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Eureka

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