One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first chance to plant sweet potatos in Fairbanks should be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

Frost tolerance for sweet potatos:	Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

You can not plant sweet potatos until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Fairbanks is May. However, you really should wait until June if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant sweet potatos and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your sweet potatos may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your sweet potatos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on May 15 in Fairbanks. You should expect an average low temperature of -50°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fairbanks is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Fairbanks there is a last frost after May 15 so always be ready to cover your sweet potatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fairbanks

Here is the info for USDA Zone 2a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	August 15
Lowest Expected Low	-50°F
Highest Expected Low	-45°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -50°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -45°F.

Plants to Grow in Fairbanks

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