One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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 Bogalusa you can determine when you can plant cantaloupes 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 has passed.

It's a bad idea to plant cantaloupes until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Bogalusa 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your cantaloupes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Bogalusa. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bogalusa is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Bogalusa you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your cantaloupes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bogalusa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Bogalusa

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