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.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Charlotte should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

You really shouldn't plant melons until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Charlotte 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your melons may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your melons indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Charlotte. It might get as low as -15°F during 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 Charlotte and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Charlotte it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your melons if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Charlotte

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°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 -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Charlotte

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