When to Plant Melons in Zone 5b

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Zone 5b can be reffered to in order to determine when it's possible to plant melons.

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Planting Calendar for Melons

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

Since melons require warm weather you have to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant melons
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant melons
Probably not a good time to plant melons

The earliest that you can plant melons in Zone 5b 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 melons and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your melons may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your melons indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 5b is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 5b you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your melons if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 5b

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 5b

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 5b.