Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. 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 the best time to plant watermelon is to use the USDA zone info for Carthage.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

Watermelon require warm weather which tells us that it is important to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Carthage 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. Any later than that and your watermelon may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your watermelon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Carthage. You can expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Carthage is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Carthage you get a frost after March 15 be ready to protect your watermelon if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Carthage

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 Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 Carthage

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