One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Sidney should be figured out by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

Since cantaloupes are not cold tolerant it is necessary to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Sidney is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. If you wait any later than that and 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

In Sidney the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -30°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Sidney is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Sidney you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your cantaloupes if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sidney

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-30°F
Highest Expected Low	-25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -25°F.

Plants to Grow in Sidney

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