When to Plant Watermelon in Canton, MS

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. 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 Canton can be read to determine when you can plant watermelon.


Planting Calendar for Watermelon

Frost tolerance for watermelon: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since watermelon require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant watermelon
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant watermelon
Probably not a good time to plant watermelon

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Canton 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your watermelon may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your watermelon indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Canton. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Canton is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Canton it frosts late in the year after March 15 so always be ready to protect your watermelon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Canton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)November 15
Lowest Expected Low10°F
Highest Expected Low15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Canton

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