One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 USDA zone info for New Orleans should be used to estimate when you can plant sweet potatos.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

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

Since sweet potatos are not cold tolerant it's necessary to wait until after the last frost before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in New Orleans is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 September. Any later than that and 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 few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on February 15 in New Orleans. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for New Orleans may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in New Orleans you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to protect your sweet potatos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Orleans

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in New Orleans

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Orleans.