One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

You will be able to estimate when it's a good idea to plant cantaloupes by reviewing the USDA zone info for Manassas.

Planting Calendar for Cantaloupes

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

Cantaloupes require warm weather which means that you need to wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant cantaloupes in Manassas 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. Starting your cantaloupes indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Manassas. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Manassas 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 Manassas you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your cantaloupes in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Manassas

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 Manassas

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