One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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 best time to plant cantaloupes in Rocky Mount can be determined by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

Cantaloupes are not cold tolerant which means that you must wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Rocky Mount 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cantaloupes indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Rocky Mount the average date of last frost happens on March 15. It might get as low as 10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Rocky Mount is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Rocky Mount last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to protect your cantaloupes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Rocky Mount

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 Rocky Mount

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Rocky Mount.