When to Plant Cantaloupes in Elmwood Park, NJ

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Elmwood Park it's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant cantaloupes.


Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

Since cantaloupes require warm weather it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant cantaloupes
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant cantaloupes
Probably not a good time to plant cantaloupes

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Elmwood Park 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 fully mature. If you are starting your cantaloupes indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Elmwood Park the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Elmwood Park is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Elmwood Park last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your cantaloupes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Elmwood Park

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Elmwood Park

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Elmwood Park.