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.

The earliest that you can plant romaine lettuce in Cleveland can be determined by referring to the USDA zone info.

Planting Calendar for Romaine lettuce

Frost tolerance for romaine lettuce:	Very tolerant of frost.
When to plant:	Up to 7 weeks before last frost.

Romaine lettuce are very cold tolerant which tells us that you can get them planted much earlier than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

The earliest that you can plant romaine lettuce in Cleveland is January. However, you really should wait until February if you don't want to take any chances.

The last month that you can plant romaine lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably October. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your romaine lettuce may not have a chance to really do well. You can get started a little bit earlier by starting your romaine lettuce indoors.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on February 15 in Cleveland. It might get as low as 20°F during the coldest months of winter.

Since the USDA zone info for Cleveland is just an average the actual date of last frost will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Cleveland there is a last frost after February 15 so make sure that you are prepared to protect your romaine lettuce if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Cleveland

Here is the info for USDA Zone 9a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	February 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	December 15
Lowest Expected Low	20°F
Highest Expected Low	25°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 20°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 25°F.

Plants to Grow in Cleveland

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