One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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 reviewing the USDA zone info for Van Wert it's a good idea to determine 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 when the weather gets warmer.

Melons require warm weather which means that you must wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in Van Wert 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 fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your melons indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Van Wert. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Van Wert may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Van Wert there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your melons in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Van Wert

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 Van Wert

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Van Wert.