When to Plant Iceberg lettuce in Smyrna, DE

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to figure out when it's the best time to plant iceberg lettuce by referring to the USDA zone info for Smyrna.


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 moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them slightly earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant iceberg lettuce in Smyrna is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 August. If you wait any later than that and your iceberg lettuce may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your iceberg lettuce indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Smyrna the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Smyrna may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Smyrna last frost occurs after April 15 be ready to protect your iceberg lettuce in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Smyrna

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low0°F
Highest Expected Low5°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 0°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 5°F.

Plants to Grow in Smyrna

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