When to Plant Lettuce in Belleville, IL

One of the first steps you take when you are determining 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.

You can figure out when it's the best time to plant lettuce in Belleville by using 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 ok in some cold which means that you can plant them a little earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant lettuce in Belleville 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. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your lettuce may not have a chance to fully mature. Starting your lettuce indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Belleville the average date of last frost happens on April 15. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of -5°F.

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 Belleville and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Belleville it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your lettuce if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Belleville

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-5°F
Highest Expected Low0°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -5°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 0°F.

Plants to Grow in Belleville

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