One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of figuring out when it's possible to plant watermelon is to check out the USDA zone info for Mandan.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

Since watermelon require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Mandan 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 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your watermelon indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Mandan. You should expect an average low temperature of -30°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mandan is not always accurate the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Mandan you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your watermelon if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mandan

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 Mandan

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