One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

A common way of estimating when it's the best time to plant sweet potatos is to refer to the USDA zone info for Alma.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

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

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

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Alma 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. If you wait any later than that and your sweet potatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your sweet potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Alma the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -10°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Alma is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Alma 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 Alma

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 Alma

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