When to Plant Watermelon in New Castle, PA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant watermelon by checking out the USDA zone info for New Castle.


Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

It's a bad idea to plant watermelon until after all chance of frost has passed because they do not do well in cold weather.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant watermelon
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant watermelon
Probably not a good time to plant watermelon

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in New Castle 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. Any later than that and your watermelon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your watermelon indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In New Castle the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for New Castle is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in New Castle there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to protect your watermelon in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Castle

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 New Castle

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Castle.