Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to figure out your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's a good idea to estimate when you can plant lettuce by using the USDA zone info for Grand Rapids.

Planting Calendar for Lettuce

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

Lettuce are moderately cold tolerant which tells us that you can start planting them earlier than other plants that might not handle the cold.

The earliest that you can plant lettuce in Grand Rapids 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 lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably August. Any later than that and 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 little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Grand Rapids the average date of last frost happens on May 15. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of -35°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Grand Rapids is not always accurate the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Since half of the time in Grand Rapids you get surprised by a frost after May 15 be ready to protect your lettuce in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Grand Rapids

Here is the info for USDA Zone 3b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-35°F
Highest Expected Low	-30°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is -35°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near -30°F.

Plants to Grow in Grand Rapids

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Grand Rapids.