When to Plant Cantaloupes in Palmyra, NJ

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

A common way of determining when it's the best time to plant cantaloupes is to use the USDA zone info for Palmyra.


Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

You can not plant cantaloupes until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold 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 Palmyra 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 really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cantaloupes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Palmyra. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Palmyra is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Palmyra there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cantaloupes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Palmyra

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 Palmyra

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