When to Plant Romaine lettuce in Sheldon, IA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the 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.

In Sheldon you can determine when it's a good idea to plant romaine lettuce by referring to the USDA zone info.


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 tells us that you can plant them much earlier in the year than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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 Sheldon 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 romaine lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else 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

The average date of last frost is May 15 in Sheldon. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sheldon and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Sheldon you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your romaine lettuce if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Sheldon

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)September 15
Lowest Expected Low-25°F
Highest Expected Low-20°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 -20°F.

Plants to Grow in Sheldon

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