One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 USDA zone info for Grain Valley should be reffered to in order to figure out when it's possible to plant melons.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Since melons do not do well in cold weather you need to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Grain Valley 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. If you wait any later than that and your melons may not have a chance to grow to maturity. 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 Grain Valley. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Grain Valley is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Grain Valley it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your melons in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Grain Valley

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 Grain Valley

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Grain Valley.