One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 can figure out when it's the best time to plant lettuce in South El Monte by reviewing the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Lettuce

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

Lettuce are one of those plants that can tolerate a little bit of cold weather which means that you can plant them a little bit earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lettuce in South El Monte 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. If you wait any later than that and 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

The average date of last frost is January 31 in South El Monte. It might get as low as 30°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for South El Monte and it changes from year to year. Since half of the time in South El Monte it frosts late in the year after January 31 be ready to cover your lettuce if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for South El Monte

Here is the info for USDA Zone 10a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	January 31
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	30°F
Highest Expected Low	35°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 30°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 35°F.

Plants to Grow in South El Monte

You may be interested in your other planting guides for South El Monte.