The Best Sweet Potatoes to Grow in Virginia

Most Virginia gardeners do best with a reliable orange-fleshed sweet potato that matures in roughly 90 to 110 days from transplanting, such as Beauregard or Covington. Along the coast and in the Piedmont, slower types also have time to finish. In the mountains, the shorter season points to the earliest types. Soil, rain and elevation settle the rest.

The short answer for Virginia

For most of Virginia, the best sweet potatoes are mid-season, orange-fleshed varieties such as Beauregard and Covington, both widely grown across the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast. Where the season is short, in the Blue Ridge and southwest Virginia, shift to the earliest-maturing types. Where it is long, on the coast, you can add slower white- and purple-fleshed kinds.

The season itself comes from frost dates. At the NAS Oceana weather station in Virginia Beach, the last spring frost falls between March 20 and April 3. That range is the 30 to 70 percent probability band for a 32F freeze, so on those dates a freeze in any given year is somewhere between 30 and 70 percent likely. The first fall frost falls between November 10 and November 24, measured the same way. This is the mild end of the state, and inland and upland gardens run weeks later in spring and earlier in fall.

Sweet potatoes do not go out on the frost date, though. Slips want warm soil and warm nights, which come well after the last freeze. The real growing season is the stretch between that warm-soil planting and the first fall frost. The When to Plant Sweet Potatoes in Virginia guide covers the dates in detail.

Heat is rarely the limit. The Virginia Beach reference station averages 26 days a year at 90F or higher, which suits a crop that grows best in summer warmth. Season length is what separates one variety choice from another. For the basics of bed prep and care, see Growing Sweet Potatoes in Virginia.

Which sweet potato types suit Virginia?

Think in types first and cultivar names second. Catalog days to maturity vary by supplier and count from transplanting the slip, so treat these ranges as rough.

If you can plant only one, make it a mid-season orange type. It stores well, forgives a wet spell, and finishes before frost in nearly every part of the state.

What will not work here

Slow varieties in the mountains fail first. A sweet potato set out in early June at higher elevation can meet its first fall frost with small, pencil-thin roots. Frost blackens the vines, and the roots stop sizing up. Gardeners in the Blue Ridge and southwest Virginia who want the big long-season types need either the earliest cultivars or a warmed bed to buy extra weeks.

Planting on the frost date fails too. The March 20 to April 3 range on the coast is a 30 to 70 percent freeze probability, so a freeze can still arrive after it. Even in a year with no more freezes, soil that cold sets slips back. They sit with yellowing leaves and make little root growth. Wait until the soil has warmed and nights stay mild.

Why do sweet potatoes rot in a wet Virginia summer?

Summer rain in Virginia is generous. The reference station gets about 15.0 inches across June, July and August (46.6 inches over the year). June is the driest of the three at 4.15 inches, then July brings 5.76 and August 5.09. Combine that with 26 days at 90F or more and you get a humid canopy. Close spacing holds moisture against the vines and stems for hours after every storm. Give slips room in rows so air can move through.

Soil changes what that rain does. Heavy clay, common across the Piedmont, can hold a summer downpour for a week, and roots sitting in it rot or split when a dry spell ends in a soaking. Build ridges or raised rows so water drains away from the roots. Sandy coastal soil is the opposite: rain drains through within the day, so new slips may need watering in their first weeks even in a wet summer. These are long-term normals, not a forecast, and a rain gauge on your own plot tells you what actually landed.

A last failure is digging too late. The first fall frost on the coast comes between November 10 and November 24, and earlier inland. Cold soil can damage roots left in the ground, and frost-killed vines can let rot creep toward the roots. Dig before the first frost where you can. If frost does hit, cut the vines and dig within a few days.

What changes across Virginia

Virginia spans USDA hardiness zones 5a to 8b on the 2023 USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, which is eight half-zone steps from the coldest mountain pockets to the mildest coast. There is no single answer for the state. A gardener near the Chesapeake Bay and one on a southwest ridge are growing in different seasons.

The zone itself is built on one variable, the average annual extreme minimum winter temperature. Sweet potatoes are tender and treated as annuals, so winter cold does not decide whether they survive. What the zone spread signals is how much the growing season stretches or shrinks. The frost dates above come from the mild coastal end. The Blue Ridge and southwest Virginia run weeks later in spring and earlier in fall.

If you garden in northern Virginia, the Shenandoah Valley or at altitude, shift three things. First, choose the earliest types in the table and skip the long-season ones. Second, warm the bed. Black plastic laid before planting raises soil temperature, and a row cover over new slips helps on cool nights. Third, plant when the soil and nights are warm, then count back from your local first frost to check that your variety has time to finish. Lower, warmer areas toward the coast can reverse that advice and try the slower, richer types.

To see where you land, enter your ZIP code on the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. Your zone is the starting point; the local frost dates are what you plan around.

Where to check this for your own county

The best next stop is Virginia Cooperative Extension, the state’s land-grant extension service. It runs offices across the state, and the agents there know the soil and weather in your county. Find your county office and ask for two things.

• The local planting calendar for sweet potatoes, with slip-setting dates tied to your area’s soil warming and frost dates.
• The varieties trialed or recommended in your county, plus any local slip suppliers and soil-test options.

A county recommendation beats a state one. Virginia covers zones 5a to 8b, so statewide advice is a starting point and your county’s trials and calendar are more precise. Master Gardener volunteers attached to many county offices can also tell you which cultivars local gardeners have grown successfully, and which ones have disappointed.

A soil test is worth the small fee while you are at it. Sweet potatoes do best in loose, well-drained soil without a lot of added nitrogen, which grows leafy vines at the expense of roots. Extension can tell you what your soil actually needs.

Checking this against your own garden

Your own observations outrank every date above. Three things are worth watching.

First, feel the soil. Push your hand a few inches into the bed in late morning. If it feels cool or clammy, wait. If it feels pleasantly warm, slips are ready to go. A bed that warms first, such as a south-facing slope or a raised row, tells you where your earliest planting spot is. A bed that stays cool is where you grow your earliest types, or skip.

Second, watch new leaves on the slips after transplanting. Healthy slips push fresh growth. If they stall, turn purple or yellow, the soil or nights were too cold, or the bed stays too wet. That tells you something about the spot as well as the timing.

Third, watch the vines in midsummer. When runners close over the row and the leaves shade the soil, the plants are on track. Thin, slow growth by midsummer suggests too much shade, poor drainage or a variety too slow for your site. In early fall, scratch the soil beside one plant to check root size before the first frost. Sweet potatoes grown in a cool pocket will be smaller than those in a warm one, and that is useful information for next year’s variety choice.

Common questions

What is the best sweet potato for a first-time Virginia gardener?

A mid-season orange-fleshed variety such as Beauregard or Covington is the safest bet. They mature in roughly 90 to 110 days from transplanting, store well, and are widely available as slips through garden centers and mail-order suppliers.

Can I grow sweet potatoes in the Blue Ridge or southwest Virginia?

Yes, with adjustments. Choose the earliest-maturing types, plant only when the soil is warm, and consider black plastic or a raised bed. Your frost dates come earlier in fall than the coastal range of November 10 to November 24, so count back from your local date.

Do sweet potatoes need a lot of watering in Virginia summers?

Less than most vegetables once established. The reference station gets about 15.0 inches of rain in June through August. Sandy soil may still need water in the first weeks after planting, and clay needs good drainage more than extra water. A rain gauge shows what your plot receives.

When should I dig sweet potatoes in Virginia?

Dig before the first fall frost, which on the coast falls between November 10 and November 24 and arrives earlier inland and at elevation. If frost blackens the vines first, cut them back and dig within a few days. Your county Virginia Cooperative Extension office can confirm local timing.