When to Plant Sweet Potatos in Ogallala, NE

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate 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.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Ogallala can be figured out by referring to the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

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

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

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant sweet potatos
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant sweet potatos
Probably not a good time to plant sweet potatos

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

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Ogallala is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Ogallala it frosts late in the year after April 15 so be sure to be ready to cover your sweet potatos if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Ogallala

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 Ogallala

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