One of the first steps you take when you are estimating 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.

A common way of determining when it's a good idea to plant potatos is to refer to the USDA zone info for Newton.

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 do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant potatos in Newton 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. Any later than that and your potatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your potatos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Newton. You should expect an average low temperature of 5°F in the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Newton may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Newton you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your potatos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Newton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	5°F
Highest Expected Low	10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 10°F.

Plants to Grow in Newton

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