One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

You should be able to determine when you can plant sweet potatos by referring to the USDA zone info for Manhattan.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

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

You really shouldn't plant sweet potatos until after the last frost because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Manhattan 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

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Manhattan. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Manhattan may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Manhattan last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your sweet potatos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Manhattan

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 Manhattan

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