frostdate name logo in white
frostdate name logo in white

When to Plant Sweet Potatos in Bloomington, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to determine when it's the best time to plant sweet potatos by looking at the USDA zone info for Bloomington.


Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

Frost tolerance for sweet potatos: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost has passed.

Sweet Potatos do not do well in cold weather which means that you really should wait until it warms up after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

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 Bloomington 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. 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. 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

In Bloomington the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Bloomington is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Bloomington it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your sweet potatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Bloomington

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Bloomington

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