When to Plant Melons in Horseheads, NY

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Horseheads should be read to estimate when it's the best time to plant melons.


Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Melons are not cold tolerant which tells us that you really should wait until it warms up 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 Horseheads 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. If you wait any later than that and your melons may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your melons indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Horseheads. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Horseheads is just an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Horseheads you get a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your melons in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Horseheads

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 Horseheads

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