When to Plant Potatos in Herndon, VA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out 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.

A common way of estimating when it's a good idea to plant potatos is to examine the USDA zone info for Herndon.


Planting Calendar for Potatos

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

Potatos tend to make it in cold weather which means that you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle 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 Herndon 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. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Herndon. It might get as low as 0°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Herndon and it is different every year. Half of the time in Herndon you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to cover your potatos if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Herndon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Herndon

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