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

In Wheeling you can determine when it's the best time to plant watermelon by checking out the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Watermelon

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

It's not a good idea to plant watermelon until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant watermelon in Wheeling 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. If you wait any later than that and your watermelon may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your watermelon indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Wheeling the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -5°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Wheeling is an average and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Wheeling you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your watermelon in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wheeling

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-5°F
Highest Expected Low	0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Wheeling

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