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When to plant Sweet Potato

Computed from land-grant Extension planting-window rules (cited below), localized to real ZIP-level median frost dates, not a single national guess. These are national-generic rules by hardiness class; individual state Extension offices layer their own regional adjustment on top (earlier in the Deep South, later in the Upper Midwest). Enter your ZIP for your own dates, or read the four representative locations below.

Planting windows and crop timing here are computed from USDA/NOAA climate data and the university extension sources cited below, not a site visit or soil test. Treat this as a starting point: local conditions vary, and a local nursery or extension office can advise on your exact site. See our full Disclaimer.

Representative timing, by climate band

When to plant Sweet Potato in four US climates

Each column is the most nursery-dense location in our directory within that USDA zone band, computed from that location's own real median frost dates, not a made-up example.

Stage Zones 1-5 (cold winters)
Fort Plain, NY 		Zones 6-7 (temperate)
McMinnville, TN 		Zones 8-9 (warm)
Apopka, FL 		Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent)
Loxahatchee, FL
Start seed indoors Not available Not available Not available –
Direct-sow outside Not available Not available Not available –
Transplant outside May 20–Jun 3 Apr 21–May 5 Mar 10–Mar 24 –
Fall planting Not available Not available Not available –
Expected harvest Aug 23–Oct 31 Jul 25–Oct 2 Jun 13–Aug 21 –

Zones 10-13 (hot, frost rare or absent) (Loxahatchee, FL): Frost is rare here (about 359 frost-free days a year); most years see little or no hard freeze. This is a very tender crop. In climates like this one, tender and very-tender crops typically go in before the hottest months arrive, not on a frost-relative schedule.

Sweet potato transplants two to four weeks after your last frost, grown from rooted cuttings called slips rather than from seed. Colorado State University Extension's tables do not cover sweet potato; the very-tender classification and the two-weeks-or-more-after-frost window with a 60-to-65°F minimum air temperature come from Purdue Extension's Table 1 (HO-186-W).

Days to maturity run 95 to 150, and the two sources with a figure disagree meaningfully: NC State Extension gives 95 to 125, while Missouri Extension gives 150, notably higher. That gap most likely reflects a real regional or variety difference rather than one source being wrong, so this page reports the full range rather than averaging the two into a number neither states. No minimum soil temperature was found in any source checked for sweet potato specifically.

As a very-tender crop needing genuinely warm air, not just frost-free air, a cold-winter climate should treat the two-weeks-after-frost figure as a floor, since sweet potato slips stall in cool weather even without frost; a mild-winter climate reaches that 60-to-65°F air threshold sooner and can set out slips correspondingly earlier.

Buy sweet potato slips, rooted shoot cuttings sold specifically for planting, not seed and not the whole tuber itself. Nurseries typically stock slips in late spring to match the transplant window above.

Frost hardiness

Very tender. Killed by even light frost or cold soil. Plant well after the last frost date, once soil has warmed.

Days to maturity

95–150

Sourcing notes

Not covered by CSU. PURDUE Table 1 lists sweet potato very_tender ("at least two weeks after" last frost, min air temp 60-65F); used PURDUE's window. Grown from transplants ("slips"). DTM: NCSU 95-125, MOEXT 150 - MOEXT's figure is notably higher, flagged as a likely regional/variety difference rather than averaged away. No min soil temp was found in any of the five sources for sweet potato specifically.

Related crops

Growing zones for this crop

Nurseries near these locations

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Sources