When to Plant Watermelon in Henderson, KY

One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant watermelon by checking out the USDA zone info for Henderson.


Planting Calendar for Watermelon

Frost tolerance for watermelon: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's probably a bad idea to plant watermelon until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant watermelon
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant watermelon
Probably not a good time to plant watermelon

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

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Henderson. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

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

USDA Zone Info for Henderson

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Henderson

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