The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. 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 making a decision about when it's a good idea to plant sweet potatos is to refer to the USDA zone info for Kearney.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

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

Since sweet potatos are not cold tolerant you need to wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Kearney 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. 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

In Kearney the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You can expect an average low temperature of -15°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost may not be accurate from year to year because it is based on the USDA zone info for Kearney and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Kearney last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to cover your sweet potatos if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Kearney

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 Kearney

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