One of the first steps you take when you are estimating your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

You should be able to estimate when you can plant iceberg lettuce by referring to the USDA zone info for Costa Mesa.

Planting Calendar for Iceberg lettuce

Frost tolerance for iceberg lettuce:	Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Iceberg lettuce do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant iceberg lettuce in Costa Mesa is February. However, you really should wait until March if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant iceberg lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your iceberg lettuce may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your iceberg lettuce indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost is on January 31 in Costa Mesa. You can expect an average low temperature of 35°F in the coldest months of winter.

Just be sure to remember that USDA zone info for Costa Mesa is just an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Half of the time in Costa Mesa you get surprised by a frost after January 31 so be sure to be ready to cover your iceberg lettuce in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Costa Mesa

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	35°F
Highest Expected Low	40°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 40°F.

Plants to Grow in Costa Mesa

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Costa Mesa.