One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. 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 estimating when it's possible to plant cantaloupes is to examine the USDA zone info for Lake Jackson.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

It's probably a bad idea to plant cantaloupes until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Lake Jackson 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 cantaloupes and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your cantaloupes may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your cantaloupes indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Lake Jackson. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Lake Jackson is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Lake Jackson last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your cantaloupes if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Lake Jackson

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 Lake Jackson

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Lake Jackson.