Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Herkimer can be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

Since watermelon are not cold tolerant you really should wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Herkimer 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 grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your watermelon indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Herkimer the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Herkimer is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Herkimer there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your watermelon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Herkimer

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Herkimer

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