When to Plant Potatos in Lorain, OH

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule is the 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.

The first chance to plant potatos in Lorain can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.


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 much earlier in the year because they are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

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 Lorain 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your potatos may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your potatos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on April 15 in Lorain. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -10°F.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Lorain and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Lorain last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your potatos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Lorain

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6a.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Lorain

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