One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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 estimating when it's a good idea to plant sweet potatos is to look at the USDA zone info for Whitewater.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

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

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

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Whitewater is April. However, you really should wait until May 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 August. Any later than that and your sweet potatos may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your sweet potatos indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Whitewater. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -20°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Whitewater is just an average the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Whitewater there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your sweet potatos if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Whitewater

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Whitewater

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