When to Plant Lettuce in Shippensburg, PA

One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate 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.

By looking at the USDA zone info for Shippensburg you should be able to figure out 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.

Since lettuce do well in moderate cold you can plant them a little 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 Shippensburg 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. If you wait any later than that and your lettuce may not have a chance to fully mature. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your lettuce indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Shippensburg the average date of last frost happens on April 15. It might get as low as -5°F during the coldest months of winter.

Remember that USDA zone info for Shippensburg is an average and the actual date of last frost changes from year to year. Half of the time in Shippensburg you get a frost after April 15 so always be ready to cover your lettuce if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Shippensburg

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 Low0°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 Shippensburg

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