One of the first steps you take when you are getting a good idea 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.

The USDA zone info for Needles can be looked at to estimate when you can plant lettuce.

Planting Calendar for Lettuce

Frost tolerance for lettuce:	Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant:	Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Since lettuce do well in moderate cold you can plant them a bit earlier in the year than other frost tender plants.

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

The last month that you can plant lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lettuce may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your lettuce indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Needles the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 25°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Needles is just an average the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Needles it frosts late in the year after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your lettuce if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Needles

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 25°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 30°F.

Plants to Grow in Needles

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