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.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant cantaloupes is to consult the USDA zone info for Jefferson City.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

Since cantaloupes require warm weather you need to wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Jefferson City 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. If you wait any later than that and your cantaloupes may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your cantaloupes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Jefferson City. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Jefferson City is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Jefferson City you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your cantaloupes in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Jefferson City

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Jefferson City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Jefferson City.