When to Plant Cantaloupes in Harvey, IL

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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Harvey it's a good idea to estimate when to plant cantaloupes.


Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

Since cantaloupes do not do well in cold weather you must wait until after all chance of frost has passed 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 Harvey 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cantaloupes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your cantaloupes indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Harvey. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Harvey may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Harvey there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cantaloupes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Harvey

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 Harvey

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