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.

One way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant cantaloupes is to examine the USDA zone info for Nicholasville.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

Cantaloupes are not cold tolerant which means that you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Nicholasville 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. If you are starting your cantaloupes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Nicholasville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Nicholasville is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Nicholasville it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your cantaloupes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Nicholasville

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 Low	0°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 Nicholasville

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