When to Plant Cantaloupes in Pana, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to figure out when it's the best time to plant cantaloupes by using the USDA zone info for Pana.


Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant cantaloupes until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

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 Pana 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your cantaloupes indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Pana the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Pana is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Pana there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your cantaloupes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Pana

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 Pana

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