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.

One way of determining when it's a good idea to plant watermelon is to check out the USDA zone info for Seward.

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 do not do well in cold weather you have to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Seward 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 grow to maturity. Starting your watermelon indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Seward the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Seward is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Seward you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so always be ready to protect your watermelon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Seward

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-15°F
Highest Expected Low	-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Seward

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