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 common way of determining when you can plant potatos is to refer to the USDA zone info for Centralia.

Planting Calendar for Potatos

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

Since potatos do well in cold you can plant them much earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant potatos in Centralia 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 really do well. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

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

Since the USDA zone info for Centralia is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Centralia it frosts late in the year after March 15 so always be ready to protect your potatos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Centralia

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	15°F
Highest Expected Low	20°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 20°F.

Plants to Grow in Centralia

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