One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

In Manhattan you can figure out when to plant cantaloupes by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

It's 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 Manhattan 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. Starting your cantaloupes indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Manhattan. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Manhattan is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Manhattan you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your cantaloupes if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manhattan

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 Manhattan

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