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

The best time to plant melons in Newton can be figured out by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

It's not a good idea to plant melons until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Newton 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 melons and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your melons may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your melons indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Newton 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.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Newton and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Newton there is a last frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your melons if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Newton

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 Newton

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