Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to estimate your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant potatos in Columbia should 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 earlier in the year because they do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant potatos in Columbia 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. If you wait any later than that and your potatos may not have a chance to fully mature. 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 March 15 in Columbia. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Columbia is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Columbia you get a frost after March 15 so make sure that you are ready to protect your potatos in the event of one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Columbia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°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 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Columbia

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