When to Plant Sweet Potatos in Zone 1a

One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

By referring to the USDA zone info for Zone 1a it's a good idea to estimate when it's possible to plant sweet potatos.


Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

Frost tolerance for sweet potatos: Not tolerant of frost.
When to plant: After the last frost when the weather gets warmer.

Sweet Potatos are not cold tolerant which means that it's important to wait until it warms up after the last frost when the weather gets warmer before you can plant them.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant sweet potatos
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant sweet potatos
Probably not a good time to plant sweet potatos

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Zone 1a is June. However, you really should wait until July 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 July. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your sweet potatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a few weeks earlier by starting your sweet potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on June 15 in Zone 1a. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -60°F.

It's important to remember that USDA zone info for Zone 1a may not be accurate from year to year and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Zone 1a last frost occurs after June 15 so always be ready to cover your sweet potatos in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 1a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 1a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)June 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)July 15
Lowest Expected Low-60°F
Highest Expected Low-55°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -60°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -55°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 1a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 1a.