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When to plant Cantaloupe / Muskmelon

Computed from land-grant Extension planting-window rules (cited below), localized to real ZIP-level median frost dates, not a single national guess. These are national-generic rules by hardiness class; individual state Extension offices layer their own regional adjustment on top (earlier in the Deep South, later in the Upper Midwest). Enter your ZIP for your own dates, or read the four representative locations below.

Planting windows and crop timing here are computed from USDA/NOAA climate data and the university extension sources cited below, not a site visit or soil test. Treat this as a starting point: local conditions vary, and a local nursery or extension office can advise on your exact site. See our full Disclaimer.

Representative timing, by climate band

When to plant Cantaloupe / Muskmelon in four US climates

Each column is the most nursery-dense location in our directory within that USDA zone band, computed from that location's own real median frost dates, not a made-up example.

Stage Zones 1-5 (cold winters)
Fort Plain, NY 		Zones 6-7 (temperate)
McMinnville, TN 		Zones 8-9 (warm)
Apopka, FL 		Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent)
Loxahatchee, FL
Start seed indoors Apr 15–Apr 22 Mar 17–Mar 24 Feb 3–Feb 10 –
Direct-sow outside Not available Not available Not available –
Transplant outside May 20–Jun 3 Apr 21–May 5 Mar 10–Mar 24 –
Fall planting Not available Not available Not available –
Expected harvest Jul 16–Sep 1 Jun 17–Aug 3 May 6–Jun 22 –

Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent) (Loxahatchee, FL): Frost is rare here (about 359 frost-free days a year); most years see little or no hard freeze. This is a very tender crop. In climates like this one, tender and very-tender crops typically go in before the hottest months arrive, not on a frost-relative schedule.

Cantaloupe and muskmelon transplant two to four weeks after your last frost. Colorado State University Extension and Purdue Extension both classify melon very tender (Fact Sheet 7.212; HO-186-W) and agree exactly on a 60°F minimum soil temperature at transplant, one of the more settled figures on this page.

Start seed indoors two to three weeks before your last frost if growing your own transplants rather than direct-seeding after the soil has warmed. Days-to-maturity figures split by counting convention rather than by real disagreement: NC State Extension's 57-to-62-day figure is counted from transplant, while Colorado State's 85 and Missouri Extension's 80 to 90 count from direct seed. This page reports the combined range and flags which end is which, since the two conventions are not interchangeable.

As a very-tender crop, melon in a cold-winter climate needs the full two-to-four-week buffer past frost before soil is reliably warm enough; in a mild-winter climate that buffer still applies, it simply starts from an earlier or negligible frost date.

Nurseries sell cantaloupe and muskmelon as transplants in cell packs for a head start on the season, and as seed for direct-sowing once soil has reached 60°F, the more common route for a vining crop this size.

Frost hardiness

Very tender. Killed by even light frost or cold soil. Plant well after the last frost date, once soil has warmed.

Minimum soil temperature

60°F

For direct sowing/germination, where an Extension source stated it.

Days to maturity

57–90

Sourcing notes

From transplant. CSU and PURDUE agree very_tender, and their soil-temp minimums agree exactly at 60F. DTM convention differs: NCSU's 57-62 is from transplant; CSU (85) and MOEXT (80-90) are from direct seed - combined range reported, convention flagged.

Related crops

Growing zones for this crop

Nurseries near these locations

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Sources