One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

One way of estimating when to plant sweet potatos is to consult the USDA zone info for Dayton.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

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

Sweet Potatos do not do well in cold weather which means that you have to wait until it warms up after all chance of frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Dayton 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 sweet potatos and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your sweet potatos may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your sweet potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is February 15 in Dayton. You should expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Dayton is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Dayton you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so always be ready to cover your sweet potatos in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Dayton

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

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

Plants to Grow in Dayton

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