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.

A way of making a decision about when you can plant romaine lettuce is to refer to the USDA zone info for Smithfield.

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 means that you can get them planted much earlier than other frost tender plants.

The earliest that you can plant romaine lettuce in Smithfield 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 romaine lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably September. If you wait any later than that and your romaine lettuce may not have a chance to really do well. Starting your romaine lettuce indoors is a great way to get them started a couple of weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

The average date of last frost is March 15 in Smithfield. In the coldest months of winter you should expect an average low temperature of 10°F.

Always keep in mind that USDA zone info for Smithfield is an average and the actual date of last frost can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Smithfield there is a last frost after March 15 be ready to protect your romaine lettuce if you have a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Smithfield

Here is the info for USDA Zone 8a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	March 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	November 15
Lowest Expected Low	10°F
Highest Expected Low	15°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 10°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 15°F.

Plants to Grow in Smithfield

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