One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant sweet potatos in Braidwood 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.

Sweet Potatos are not cold tolerant which tells us that it's necessary to wait until it warms up after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Braidwood 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. If you wait any later than that and 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 April 15 in Braidwood. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Braidwood may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Braidwood it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to protect your sweet potatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Braidwood

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 Braidwood

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