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

By referring to the USDA zone info for Downey you should be able to estimate when it's possible 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 has passed.

It's not a good idea to plant sweet potatos until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Downey 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 sweet potatos and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is January 31 in Downey. It might get as low as 35°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Downey and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Downey it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to protect your sweet potatos if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Downey

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Downey

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