One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Columbia you can figure out when it's the best time to plant sweet potatos by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

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

It's not a good idea to plant sweet potatos until after all chance of frost has passed because they are not cold tolerant.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Columbia 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sweet potatos may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your sweet potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Columbia. It might get as low as 15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Columbia and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Columbia you get a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your sweet potatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°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 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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