When to Plant Melons in Spotswood, NJ

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Spotswood you should be able to estimate when it's possible to plant melons.


Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Melons do not do well in cold weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

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

The earliest that you can plant melons in Spotswood 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 melons and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your melons may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your melons indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Spotswood. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Keep in mind 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 Spotswood and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Spotswood it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your melons in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Spotswood

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 Spotswood

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