One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

A way of figuring out when it's a good idea to plant potatos is to look at the USDA zone info for Richmond.

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 are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather.

The earliest that you can plant potatos in Richmond 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 grow to maturity. Starting your potatos indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Richmond. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 0°F.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Richmond is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Richmond you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your potatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Richmond

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 Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°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 Richmond

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