One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out 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 USDA zone info for Cedar Falls can be reviewed to estimate when it's a good idea to plant lettuce.

Planting Calendar for Lettuce

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

Lettuce tend to make it in moderate cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

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

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on April 15 in Cedar Falls. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Always keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Cedar Falls and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Cedar Falls there is a last frost after April 15 be ready to cover your lettuce in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cedar Falls

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	-20°F
Highest Expected Low	-15°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 -15°F.

Plants to Grow in Cedar Falls

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Cedar Falls.