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

A way of figuring out when it's possible to plant cantaloupes is to look at the USDA zone info for Sauk Rapids.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

It's a bad idea to plant cantaloupes until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Sauk Rapids is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Sauk Rapids. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -30°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Sauk Rapids may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Sauk Rapids you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your cantaloupes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sauk Rapids

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Sauk Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Sauk Rapids.