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 Gainesville should be used to estimate when it's the best time to plant romaine lettuce.

Planting Calendar for Romaine lettuce

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

Romaine lettuce can survive in a bit of cold which means that you can plant them earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant romaine lettuce in Gainesville 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 romaine lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably October. If you wait any later than that and your romaine lettuce may not have a chance to fully mature. If you are starting your romaine lettuce indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Gainesville the average date of last frost happens on February 15. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Gainesville is an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Gainesville last frost occurs after February 15 be ready to protect your romaine lettuce in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Gainesville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Gainesville

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