One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your 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 way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant watermelon is to look at the USDA zone info for West Richland.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

Since watermelon require warm weather you really should wait until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in West Richland 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 watermelon and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your watermelon may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your watermelon indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for West Richland is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in West Richland you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to cover your watermelon if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Richland

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 West Richland

You may be interested in your other planting guides for West Richland.