One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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 potatos in Mission can be figured out 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.

Since potatos do well in cold you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant potatos in Mission 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. If you wait any later than that and your potatos may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Mission. You can expect an average low temperature of -10°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Mission is an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Mission last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your potatos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Mission

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 Mission

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