One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You will be able to figure out when it's the best time to plant melons by checking out the USDA zone info for Los Lunas.

Planting Calendar for Melons

Frost tolerance for melons:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After all chance of frost has passed.

Since melons require warm weather you have to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Los Lunas 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. If you are starting your melons indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

It's important to 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 Los Lunas and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Los Lunas there is a last frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your melons if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Los Lunas

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 Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°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 Los Lunas

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Los Lunas.