One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to estimate when to plant watermelon by reviewing the USDA zone info for Belle Fourche.

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 are not cold tolerant you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Belle Fourche is May. However, you really should wait until June 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 really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your watermelon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Belle Fourche. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Belle Fourche is just an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Belle Fourche last frost occurs after May 15 be ready to protect your watermelon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Belle Fourche

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Belle Fourche

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Belle Fourche.