When to Plant Romaine lettuce in Fairbanks, AK

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You can figure out when it's a good idea to plant romaine lettuce in Fairbanks by using the USDA zone info.


Planting Calendar for Romaine lettuce

Frost tolerance for romaine lettuce: Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant: Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Since romaine lettuce are one of those plants that can tolerate quite a bit of cold weather you can plant them much earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant romaine lettuce
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant romaine lettuce
Probably not a good time to plant romaine lettuce

The earliest that you can plant romaine lettuce in Fairbanks is April. However, you really should wait until May if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant romaine lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your romaine lettuce may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your romaine lettuce indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Fairbanks the average date of last frost happens on May 15. It might get as low as -50°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Fairbanks may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Fairbanks there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your romaine lettuce if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Fairbanks

Here is the info for USDA Zone 2a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)August 15
Lowest Expected Low-50°F
Highest Expected Low-45°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -50°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -45°F.

Plants to Grow in Fairbanks

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Fairbanks.