One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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 first opportunity to plant sweet potatos in Richmond should be figured out by looking at 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.

Since sweet potatos require warm weather it is necessary to wait until after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Richmond 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. If you wait any later than that and your sweet potatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your sweet potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Richmond the average date of last frost happens on January 31. You should expect an average low temperature of 30°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Richmond may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Richmond last frost occurs after January 31 so be sure to be ready to protect your sweet potatos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Richmond

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in Richmond

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