When to Plant Lettuce in Wausau, WI

One of the first steps you take when you are determining your gardening schedule is find your USDA Zone info. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

The first opportunity to plant lettuce in Wausau can be figured out by using the USDA zone info.


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 Wausau 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 lettuce and expect a good harvest is probably August. If you wait any later than that and your lettuce may not have a chance to really do well. If you are starting your lettuce indoors then you might be able to get away with starting them a few weeks earlier.

Last Frost Date

In Wausau the average date of last frost happens on May 15. You should expect an average low temperature of -25°F in the coldest months of winter.

Remember that the actual date of last frost is just an average because it is based on the USDA zone info for Wausau and it can change quite a bit from year to year. Since half of the time in Wausau you get a frost after May 15 be ready to cover your lettuce if you have a late frost.

USDA Zone Info for Wausau

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 Wausau

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