Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden 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 Bethlehem can be reffered to in order to estimate when it's possible to plant watermelon.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

Frost tolerance for watermelon:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Since watermelon do not do well in cold weather it's important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Bethlehem 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. If you wait any later than that and your watermelon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your watermelon indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Bethlehem the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Bethlehem is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Bethlehem you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your watermelon in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Bethlehem

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Bethlehem

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