Planting Date
Learn more about advised dates for transplanting sweetpotatoes into the field for each state associated with the SweetARMOR project!
Sweetpotatoes are a warm-season vegetable crop, with preferable growing season temperatures ranging from 90 degrees Fahrenheit during the day to the upper range of 60 degrees to 70 degrees Fahrenheit at night (Jennings et al, 2019). To coincide with these preferable growing season temperatures, most sweetpotato growers in the United States transplant at the end of spring and continue into the summer season.
Generally, to achieve the growth of a successful sweetpotato crop, growers often utilize a sweetpotato cultivar that has a shorter growing season. The reduction in the growing season provides the grower the benefit of harvesting their crop before the daytime and nighttime temperatures begin to decline and fall under the optimal growing temperature. In addition to the cultivar, having sustained, optimal temperatures throughout the growing season will ensure that the sweetpotato crop will be successful with a high quantity and quality yield!
Below is a table that provides additional information for approximate planting dates for sweetpotatoes in each state associated with the SweetARMOR project.
Table 1. The below table has been adapted from the 2022 Southeastern US Vegetable Crop Handbook and information provided by Dr. Scott Stoddard.
| Louisiana - North | 5/1–6/30 |
| Louisiana - South | 4/15–6/30 |
| Mississippi | 4/25–5/20 |
| North Carolina - East | 5/1–7/15 |
| North Carolina - West | 5/25–6/30 |
| South Carolina - East | 4/15–6/15 |
| South Carolina - West | 5/1–6/15 |
| California | 4/15–6/30 |