When to Plant Watermelon in Ridgefield Park, NJ

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your 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.

It's a good idea to determine when it's a good idea to plant watermelon by checking out the USDA zone info for Ridgefield Park.


Planting Calendar for Watermelon

Frost tolerance for watermelon: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

It's not a good idea to plant watermelon until after the last frost because they require warm weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Ridgefield 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 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 fully mature. Starting your watermelon indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Ridgefield Park. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Ridgefield Park and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Ridgefield Park it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your watermelon in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ridgefield 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 Ridgefield Park

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