When to Plant Sweet Potatos in Mendota, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Mendota can be determined by reviewing the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

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

It's a bad idea to plant sweet potatos until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

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 Mendota 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. Any later than that and your sweet potatos may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your sweet potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mendota. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Mendota is just an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Mendota it frosts late in the year after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your sweet potatos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Mendota

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 Mendota

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