One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

It's possible to figure out when it's possible to plant watermelon by using the USDA zone info for West Salem.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

Watermelon require warm weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in West Salem is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your watermelon may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your watermelon indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is May 15 in West Salem. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for West Salem and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in West Salem you get surprised by a frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your watermelon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for West Salem

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

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

Plants to Grow in West Salem

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