When to Plant Romaine lettuce in Iowa Falls, IA

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 Iowa Falls should be reviewed to estimate when you can 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.

You can plant romaine lettuce a lot earlier in the year because they are very cold tolerant.

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

The earliest that you can plant romaine lettuce in Iowa 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 romaine lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably September. Any later than that and your romaine lettuce may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your romaine lettuce indoors is a great way to get them started a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Iowa Falls the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -20°F during the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Iowa Falls and it is different every year. Since half of the time in Iowa Falls you get a frost after April 15 be ready to protect your romaine lettuce if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Iowa 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 Iowa Falls

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