Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant watermelon is to consult the USDA zone info for Eldon.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

Frost tolerance for watermelon:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost has passed.

You should not plant watermelon until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Eldon 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 watermelon and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your watermelon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your watermelon indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Eldon. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Eldon may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Eldon it frosts late in the year after April 15 so always be ready to protect your watermelon if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Eldon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-10°F
Highest Expected Low	-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Eldon

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