Winter Melon

The  is a lobbed-shot plant and the upgrade of the Melon-pult. It lobs frozen melons that deal four peas' worth of damage per melon and freezes a group of zombies at once. It costs $10,000 to buy in the shop and is only available for purchase once the player has completed Adventure Mode for the first time. Its name is based on the Benincasa hispida, although its appearance resembles a watermelon. When hit by a melon, zombies move at half speed.

Suburban Almanac Entry
Winter Melon

Winter Melons do heavy damage and slow groups of zombies.

Damage: very heavy

Range: lobbed

Firing Speed: 1/2x

Special: melons damage and freeze nearby enemies on impact

Must be planted on melon-pults

Winter Melon tries to calm his nerves. He hears zombies approach. Will he make it? Will anyone make it?

Cost: 200

Recharge: very slow

Overview
The Winter Melon shoots a large Frozen Melon at the zombies. This melon deals four normal damage shots to the targeted zombie and two normal damage shots of splash damage to nearby zombies above, below or on the same space. It fires at half the rate of the Peashooter. All zombies affected by the Winter Melon will be slowed to half their speed for a duration of time. The projectiles will also bypass the shields of zombies.

Strategy
The Winter Melon is one of the most powerful plants in the game, in league with plants like the Cob Cannon, Gloom-shroom, and Gatling Pea. The Winter Melon can freeze zombies within a half-square radius and deal significant Area of Effect damage. The Winter Melon is effective against shield zombies. The Melon-pult and Snow Pea combination has a similar effect, but the Snow Pea affects fewer zombies.

Compared to Gatling Peas, Winter Melons are more expensive for the first plant, but after every extra plant, they are less expensive for every plant afterwards. This is because you need only one Winter Melon per lane to freeze zombies in the lane, like a Snow Pea. Gatling Peas have a 450 sun cost (if factoring in the Repeater), but if there is a Torchwood in the lane, it is a total cost of 200+250+175, equaling 625. A Winter Melon with a Melon-pult, is the same power, with improved splash damage, for 300+200+300, or 800. In other words, it is cheaper for a Gatling Pea with Torchwood compared to a Winter Melon and Melon-pult.

The Winter Melon is frequently used in Survival Mode. Because the zombie density increases dramatically over time, the splash and slow effect is critical to survival. Powerful zombies such as Football Zombies or Gargantuars appear frequently in Survival: Endless, but Winter Melons weaken them considerably. Winter Melons strategically placed in the pool rows can slow Buckethead Ducky Tube zombies and Dolphin Rider Zombies.

Melon-y Lane Achievement
The achievement Melon-y Lane is unlocked by planting a Winter Melon in every lane. This can easily be done on any Survival Mode level or Last Stand. Keep in mind that they do not all have to be alive at one given time, or in the same column.

General

 * The Winter Melon's namesake is a vegetable, but its downgrade is based on a fruit.

Plants vs. Zombies

 * If the Winter Melon's seed packet is fully recharged, the player has accumulated enough sun to purchase it, and there are no Melon-pults on the lawn, clicking on the Winter Melon seed packet causes a message to appear stating "Plant a Winter Melon first" instead of "Plant a Melon-pult first". This glitch is fixed in current versions of Plants vs. Zombies.
 * It is one of only two upgrade plants that cost less sun than the plants they upgrade, the other plant being the Gold Magnet.
 * According to the Suburban Almanac, the Winter Melon can deal a very heavy amount of damage. However, it deals the same amount of damage per melon as the Melon-pult.
 * On the PlayStation Vita version of Plants vs. Zombies, the Winter Melon's seed packets might have part of the melon erased. It shares this trait with the Coffee Bean.

Plants vs. Zombies 2: It's About Time

 * It can now be planted as a normal plant instead of having to be planted on a Melon-pult like normal Upgrade Plants. It shares this trait with the Twin Sunflower, and Spikerock.