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

The USDA zone info for Brookings should be reffered to in order to figure out when it's the best time to plant watermelon.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant watermelon until after the last frost because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Brookings 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 grow to maturity. Starting your watermelon indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Brookings. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Brookings and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Brookings there is a last frost after May 15 be ready to cover your watermelon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Brookings

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 Brookings

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