One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about 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.

A common way of determining when it's possible to plant sweet potatos is to examine the USDA zone info for Hercules.

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.

Since sweet potatos do not do well in cold weather it is important to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Hercules is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 grow to maturity. Starting your sweet potatos indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Hercules the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Hercules is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Hercules there is a last frost after February 15 so always be ready to cover your sweet potatos if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Hercules

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Hercules

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