Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Plainfield you should be able to determine when to plant melons.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Melons require warm weather which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Plainfield 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 melons and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your melons may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your melons indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Plainfield. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Plainfield and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Plainfield it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your melons in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Plainfield

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 Plainfield

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