One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In East Lansing you can estimate when it's a good idea to plant potatos by checking out 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.

You can plant potatos quite a bit earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant potatos in East Lansing 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 fully mature. Starting your potatos indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in East Lansing. You should expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for East Lansing is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in East Lansing it frosts late in the year after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your potatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for East Lansing

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 East Lansing

You may be interested in your other planting guides for East Lansing.