Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Columbia you can figure out when it's the best time to plant potatos by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Potatos

Frost tolerance for potatos:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Potatos do well in cold which tells us that you can start planting them much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant potatos in Columbia is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant potatos and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your potatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on March 15 in Columbia. You should expect an average low temperature of 15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Columbia is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Columbia last frost occurs after March 15 be ready to cover your potatos in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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