When to Plant Potatos in Chatham, IL

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can estimate when it's possible to plant potatos in Chatham by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Potatos

Frost tolerance for potatos: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Potatos can survive in pretty solid cold which means that you can plant them a lot earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant potatos
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant potatos
Probably not a good time to plant potatos

The earliest that you can plant potatos in Chatham 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 potatos and expect a good harvest is probably September. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your potatos may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your potatos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Chatham. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Chatham is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Chatham last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your potatos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Chatham

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-10°F
Highest Expected Low-5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -5°F.

Plants to Grow in Chatham

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