When to Plant Lettuce in Nebraska City, NE

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.

By reviewing the USDA zone info for Nebraska City you should be able to determine when you can plant lettuce.


Planting Calendar for Lettuce

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

Lettuce do ok in mild cold which tells us that you can plant them a little bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

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 Nebraska City 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. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your lettuce indoors.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is April 15 in Nebraska City. It might get as low as -15°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is not always accurate because it is based on the USDA zone info for Nebraska City and it will vary from year to year. Since half of the time in Nebraska City it frosts late in the year after April 15 be ready to cover your lettuce if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Nebraska City

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 Nebraska City

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Nebraska City.