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

You can figure out when it's possible to plant cantaloupes in Columbus by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

You can not plant cantaloupes until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Columbus 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 fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cantaloupes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Columbus. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Columbus and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbus it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your cantaloupes in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbus

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 Columbus

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