When to Plant Iceberg lettuce in Wood Dale, IL

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

By using the USDA zone info for Wood Dale it's possible to determine when it's a good idea to plant iceberg lettuce.


Planting Calendar for Iceberg lettuce

Frost tolerance for iceberg lettuce: Tolerant of a very small amount of frost.
When to plant: Up to 3 weeks before last frost.

Iceberg lettuce do ok in moderate cold which tells us that you can start planting them slightly earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

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

The earliest that you can plant iceberg lettuce in Wood Dale 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 iceberg lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably August. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your iceberg lettuce may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your iceberg lettuce indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

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

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Wood Dale is just an average and the actual date of last frost is different every year. Half of the time in Wood Dale you get surprised by a frost after April 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your iceberg lettuce if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Wood Dale

Here is the info for USDA Zone 5b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)October 15
Lowest Expected Low-15°F
Highest Expected Low-10°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -15°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -10°F.

Plants to Grow in Wood Dale

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Wood Dale.