When to Plant Sweet Potatos in Macomb, IL

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of making a decision about when it's possible to plant sweet potatos is to look at the USDA zone info for Macomb.


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.

You should not plant sweet potatos until after the last frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

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 Macomb 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 fully mature. If you are starting your sweet potatos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Macomb. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Macomb is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Macomb you get surprised by a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your sweet potatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Macomb

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 Macomb

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