One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant lettuce in Orlando should be determined by looking at 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 do well in moderate cold which tells us that you can plant them earlier than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lettuce in Orlando 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. Starting your lettuce indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Orlando 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 Orlando is an average the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Orlando you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your lettuce in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Orlando

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 Orlando

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