Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

In Zone 3a you can determine when it's a good idea to plant sweet potatos by looking at the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Sweet Potatos

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

Since sweet potatos are not cold tolerant you must wait until after the last frost has passed before you can plant them.

The earliest that you can plant sweet potatos in Zone 3a is May. However, you really should wait until June 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. If you wait any later than that and your sweet potatos may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your sweet potatos indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost has passed is on May 15 in Zone 3a. You should expect an average low temperature of -40°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Zone 3a and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Zone 3a you get a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your sweet potatos if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 3a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-40°F
Highest Expected Low	-35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -40°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -35°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 3a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 3a.