One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Hannibal can be reviewed to figure out when it's possible to plant cantaloupes.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

Frost tolerance for cantaloupes:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost.

It's probably a bad idea to plant cantaloupes until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Hannibal 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 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 really do well. Starting your cantaloupes indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Hannibal. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Hannibal 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 Hannibal you get a frost after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your cantaloupes in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hannibal

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 Hannibal

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