When to Plant Romaine lettuce in Zone 12a

Before planting it is a good idea to find your USDA Zone info to determine your garden schedule. The zone info helps tell us things like average date of last frost and lowest expected temperature for your area.

A way of getting a good idea when it's possible to plant romaine lettuce is to consult the USDA zone info for Zone 12a.


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 a lot earlier in the year than plants that are more sensitive to the cold.

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Legend 
A good time to plant romaine lettuce
Possibly ok, but a risky time to plant romaine lettuce
Probably not a good time to plant romaine lettuce

The earliest that you can plant romaine lettuce in Zone 12a 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 November. You probably don't want to wait any later than that or else your romaine lettuce may not have a chance to grow to maturity. You can get started a couple of weeks earlier by starting your romaine lettuce indoors.

Last Frost Date

In Zone 12a it never frosts. In the coldest months of winter you can expect an average low temperature of 50°F.

Since the USDA zone info for Zone 12a is not always accurate the actual date of last frost is different every year. Since it never frosts in Zone 12a you do not have to be ready to cover your romaine lettuce if you have one of those late frosts.

USDA Zone Info for Zone 12a

Here is the info for USDA Zone 12a.

Average Date of Last Frost (spring)Never
Average Date of First Frost (fall)Never
Lowest Expected Low50°F
Highest Expected Low55°F

This means that on a really cold year, the coldest it will get is 50°F. On most years you should be prepared to experience lows near 55°F.

Plants to Grow in Zone 12a

You may be interested in your other planting guides for Zone 12a.