One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant cantaloupes in Elwood can be determined by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant cantaloupes until after all chance of frost has passed because they require warm weather.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Elwood 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. Any later than that and your cantaloupes may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cantaloupes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Elwood. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Elwood may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Elwood you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your cantaloupes if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Elwood

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 Elwood

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