One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant potatos in Alma can be estimated by looking at 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 are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can plant them a quite a bit earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant potatos in Alma 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your potatos may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Alma. It might get as low as 5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Alma is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Alma it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your potatos if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Alma

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Alma

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