When to Plant Sweet Potatoes
Sweet potatoes are a tender warm-season vegetable. Frost damages them, so they go out only after the last spring frost.
Plant them out 2 to 5 weeks after the last spring frost. The first harvest comes about 90 to 120 days after planting.
Example dates
The same rules in dates for three climates, using typical frost dates. Enter your ZIP code above for the dates where you live.
| Task | Last frost Mar 15first Nov 15 | Last frost Apr 15first Oct 25 | Last frost May 15first Sep 30 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plant | Mar 29 – Apr 19 | Apr 29 – May 20 | May 29 – Jun 19 |
| Harvest | Jun 27 – Jul 11 | Jul 28 – Aug 11 | Aug 27 – Sep 10 |
Growing sweet potatoes
Plant rooted slips into warm soil and dig the roots before soil temperatures fall in autumn.
- Spacing: 12 in apart, in rows 36 in apart. In a raised bed, 1 per 2 sq ft at square-foot spacing.
- Days to harvest: 90 to 120 from planting, then about 2 weeks of picking.
- Rotation: plant them in a different bed each year. See crop rotation.
Plan your beds with these dates
Draw your beds, tap squares to plant sweet potatoes and everything else, and get every crop's dates for your ZIP code in one calendar. Free, in your browser.
Open the garden plannerQuestions
Can sweet potatoes go in before the last frost?
No. Sweet potatoes are damaged by frost: plant them out 2 to 5 weeks after the last spring frost.
How long do sweet potatoes take to grow?
About 90 to 120 days from planting to the first harvest, which then lasts about 2 weeks. Varieties differ: check the seed packet.
More planting dates
Sources
- NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (annual/seasonal, by station: freeze dates at 32 °F)
- Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech: Virginia's Home Garden Vegetable Planting Guide: Recommended Planting Dates and Amounts to Plant (426-331 / SPES-673P, 2025)
- University of Maryland Extension: Vegetable Planting Calendar for central Maryland
- UNH Cooperative Extension: Growing Vegetables: When to Plant your Vegetable Garden (2016)
- NC State Extension: Extension Gardener Handbook, Chapter 16: Vegetable Gardening
- WSU Extension: Pacific Northwest Gardener's Handbook, Chapter 7: Vegetable Gardening
- Iowa State: Growing Sweet Potatoes in Iowa