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.

You should be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant cantaloupes by reviewing the USDA zone info for Jacksonville.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

Since cantaloupes require warm weather it's important to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Jacksonville 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cantaloupes may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your cantaloupes indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on March 15 in Jacksonville. You can expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Jacksonville is an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Jacksonville it frosts late in the year after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your cantaloupes in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Jacksonville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Jacksonville

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