When to Plant Watermelon in Geneseo, IL

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

The USDA zone info for Geneseo should be used to figure out when it's the best time to plant watermelon.


Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

Since watermelon do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Geneseo 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 watermelon and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your watermelon may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your watermelon indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Geneseo. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Geneseo is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Geneseo you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your watermelon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Geneseo

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 Geneseo

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