When to Plant Potatos in Watertown, NY

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The USDA zone info for Watertown can be reffered to in order to estimate when it's the best time to plant potatos.


Planting Calendar for Potatos

Frost tolerance for potatos: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since potatos do well in cold you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant potatos in Watertown is March. However, you really should wait until April if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant potatos and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and your potatos may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Watertown. It might get as low as -25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Watertown and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Watertown you get a frost after May 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your potatos if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Watertown

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-25°F
Highest Expected Low-20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Watertown

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