When to Plant Sweet Potatos in Pelham, AL

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Pelham it's a good idea to estimate when it's a good idea to plant sweet potatos.


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 has passed because they require warm weather.

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

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Pelham 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 sweet potatos and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your sweet potatos may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your sweet potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Pelham the average date of last frost happens on March 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 10°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Pelham and it is different every year. Half of the time in Pelham you get surprised by a frost after March 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your sweet potatos if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Pelham

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)November 15
Lowest Expected Low10°F
Highest Expected Low15°F

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

Plants to Grow in Pelham

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