When to Plant Sweet Potatos in Johnson City, NY

One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

By checking out the USDA zone info for Johnson City it's possible to figure out when it's possible to plant sweet potatos.


Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

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

It's probably not a good idea to plant sweet potatos until after the last frost when the weather gets warmer because they do not do well in cold weather.

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 Johnson City 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. If you wait any later than that and your sweet potatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your sweet potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Johnson City. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -15°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Johnson City is not always accurate the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Johnson City last frost occurs after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your sweet potatos in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Johnson City

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 Johnson City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Johnson City.