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.

You should be able to estimate when it's possible to plant romaine lettuce by using the USDA zone info for New Orleans.

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 do well in cold.

The earliest that you can plant romaine lettuce in New Orleans is January. However, you really should wait until February 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 October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your romaine lettuce may not have a chance to grow to maturity. Starting your romaine lettuce indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in New Orleans. You can expect an average low temperature of 25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for New Orleans is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since half of the time in New Orleans you get surprised by a frost after February 15 be ready to cover your romaine lettuce if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for New Orleans

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	25°F
Highest Expected Low	30°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 30°F.

Plants to Grow in New Orleans

You may be interested in your other planting guides for New Orleans.