One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for La Porte you will be able to figure out when it's a good idea to plant melons.

Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Melons do not do well in cold weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant melons in La Porte is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant melons and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your melons may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your melons indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on February 15 in La Porte. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 20°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for La Porte is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in La Porte you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your melons if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for La Porte

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

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

Plants to Grow in La Porte

You may be interested in your other planting guides for La Porte.