When to Plant Melons in Wharton, 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 zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Wharton it's possible to figure out 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 has passed.

Since melons require warm weather it is important to wait until after the last frost 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 Wharton 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 couple of weeks earlier by starting your melons indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Wharton. You should expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Wharton is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Wharton you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your melons in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Wharton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Wharton

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