One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us figure out your gardening schedule is the 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.

A common way of getting a good idea when it's the best time to plant lettuce is to check out the USDA zone info for Portsmouth.

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 some cold which tells us that you can plant them just a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant lettuce in Portsmouth 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. Any later than that and 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 Portsmouth. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that USDA zone info for Portsmouth is not always accurate and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Portsmouth last frost occurs after April 15 so be sure to be ready to protect your lettuce if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Portsmouth

Here is the info for USDA Zone 6b.

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

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

Plants to Grow in Portsmouth

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