When to Plant Cantaloupes in Garfield, NJ

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 USDA zone info for Garfield should be used to determine when you can plant cantaloupes.


Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

You should not plant cantaloupes until after the last frost has passed because they require warm weather.

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 Garfield 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. If you wait any later than that and 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Garfield. You can expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Garfield and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Garfield there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cantaloupes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Garfield

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 Garfield

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