One of the best tools that you have as gardeners to help us estimate your gardening schedule is the USDA zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

It's possible to determine when it's the best time to plant lettuce by looking at the USDA zone info for Santa Fe.

Planting Calendar for Lettuce

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

You can plant lettuce a little bit earlier in the year because they do well in moderate cold.

The earliest that you can plant lettuce in Santa Fe 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 lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably October. 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

In Santa Fe the average date of last frost happens on February 15. You can expect an average low temperature of 20°F in the coldest months of winter.

It's important to remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Santa Fe and it changes from year to year. Half of the time in Santa Fe you get surprised by a frost after February 15 so just be sure to be ready to protect your lettuce in the event of a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Santa Fe

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 Santa Fe

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Santa Fe.