One of the first steps you take when you are figuring out your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The earliest that you can plant iceberg lettuce in Charleston can be estimated by using the USDA zone info.

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 are one of those plants that can tolerate a tiny bit of cold weather which tells us that you can get them planted just a bit earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant iceberg lettuce in Charleston 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. If you wait any later than that and your iceberg lettuce may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your iceberg lettuce indoors is a great way to get them started a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Charleston the average date of last frost happens on April 15. You should expect an average low temperature of 0°F in the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Charleston may not be accurate from year to year the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Charleston you get a frost after April 15 so make sure that you are prepared to cover your iceberg lettuce if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Charleston

Here is the info for USDA Zone 7a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	April 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	October 15
Lowest Expected Low	0°F
Highest Expected Low	5°F

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

Plants to Grow in Charleston

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