When to Plant Melons in College Park, MD

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out 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 getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant melons is to check out the USDA zone info for College Park.


Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Melons are not cold tolerant which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant melons in College Park 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 really do well. If you are starting your melons indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in College Park. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for College Park is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in College Park there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your melons in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for College Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

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

Plants to Grow in College Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for College Park.