One of the first steps you take when you are making a decision about your gardening schedule is find your 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.

In Sparta you can figure out when it's possible to plant romaine lettuce by checking out 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.

Since romaine lettuce do well in cold you can plant them quite a bit earlier in the year than more sensitive plants.

The earliest that you can plant romaine lettuce in Sparta is March. However, you really should wait until April 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 August. If you wait any later than that and your romaine lettuce may not have a chance to grow to maturity. If you are starting your romaine lettuce indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a little bit earlier.

Last Frost Date

On average the last frost when the weather gets warmer is on May 15 in Sparta. You can expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Keep in mind that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Sparta and it will vary from year to year. Half of the time in Sparta there is a last frost after May 15 so make sure that you are ready to cover your romaine lettuce in the event of a surprise late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Sparta

Here is the info for USDA Zone 4b.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)	May 15
Average Date of First Frost (fall)	September 15
Lowest Expected Low	-25°F
Highest Expected Low	-20°F

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

Plants to Grow in Sparta

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