Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine 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.

A common way of figuring out when it's the best time to plant cantaloupes is to use the USDA zone info for Brownsville.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

It's not a good idea to plant cantaloupes until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Brownsville 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 cantaloupes and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your cantaloupes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your cantaloupes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on April 15 in Brownsville. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Brownsville is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in Brownsville you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cantaloupes if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Brownsville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°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 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Brownsville

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