When to Plant Lettuce in Worcester, MA

The USDA Zone info is a great tool for gardeners to help us determine your gardening schedule. The most important data that the zone info tells us is average last frost and the lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to estimate when it's a good idea to plant lettuce by reviewing the USDA zone info for Worcester.


Planting Calendar for Lettuce

Frost tolerance for lettuce: Tolerant of some frost.
When to plant: Up to 5 weeks before last frost.

Lettuce do well in moderate cold which means that you can start planting them earlier 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 Worcester 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 grow to maturity. If you are starting your lettuce indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average all chance of frost has passed is on April 15 in Worcester. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Worcester is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Worcester last frost occurs after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your lettuce if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Worcester

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 Worcester

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