When to Plant Lettuce: Spring, Fall and Winter Dates by Zone

Sow lettuce seed outdoors from 4 weeks before your median last spring frost to 4 weeks after it. Start as soon as the soil can be raked and reads at least 40°F (4°C) 4 inches (10 cm) down, and stop about a month before early-summer heat arrives. Frost is rarely the problem, since young plants take 32°F (0°C) without serious harm; heat is. Once days grow long and air temperatures pass about 75–80°F (24–27°C), plants stunt, turn bitter and bolt, so every spring sowing is a race to harvest before summer.

That same heat sensitivity makes lettuce a two-season crop. Sow again 8 to 12 weeks before the median first fall frost for heads that mature in cool fall weather. In central and south Florida, the Texas Gulf Coast, coastal Southern California and the low desert, the calendar flips: lettuce grows from late summer or fall through winter, and summer is the season to skip.

Lettuce planting dates by city

Each spring window opens 4 weeks before the city's median last frost and closes 4 weeks after it, and each fall window runs from 12 weeks to 8 weeks before the median first frost. Dallas and Houston follow the Texas spring rule, which opens 2 weeks earlier and closes 2 weeks sooner, and have later fall windows, and Seattle and Sacramento follow their own regional seasons.

Frost dates are medians from NOAA 1991–2020 climate normals for each city's main weather station; in half of years the last frost falls later than the date shown. USDA zones are from the 2023 map.

For any other town, look up your median last spring frost, count back 4 weeks to open the spring window and forward 4 weeks to close it. For fall, find your median first fall frost and sow between 12 and 8 weeks before it.

Treat each opening date as the earliest day the soil might be ready, not a fixed appointment. In a late, wet spring the window can open before the bed is dry enough to rake; wait for workable soil. At the other end, wherever early summer turns hot fast, stop sowing a month before that heat even if the window is still open.

Seattle sows from mid-April through early August, then once more in early September for winter lettuce. Sacramento and the rest of California's Interior Valleys sow in August and again from November through March, leaving September and October out. Houston's fall season runs from late September to about December 1, and spring sowing picks up again in early January.

How to tell the soil is ready

The soil is ready when it crumbles and can be raked, and a soil thermometer pushed 4 inches (10 cm) deep reads at least 40°F (4°C) at 8 a.m.

Take the reading early in the morning, before sun on the surface inflates it. Lettuce seed can sprout in soil as cold as 35°F (2°C), but slowly; it germinates best at about 60–70°F (16–21°C) and comes up in 4 to 10 days in that range.

Warm soil is the opposite problem, and the one that catches more gardeners. Lettuce seed becomes dormant in heat. Germination falls off once soil passes about 75–80°F (24–27°C) and fails between roughly 86°F and 95°F (30–35°C). The exact cutoff depends on the variety and on whether the seed is raw or primed. Pelleted, primed seed tolerates a wider temperature range, which makes it worth buying for late-summer sowings.

Sowing windows by region

The frost-date rule fits the North, Midwest, Mountain West and Mid-Atlantic. Texas starts earlier, the Southeast splits into an early spring and a fall season, and Florida, the low desert and much of California grow lettuce through winter.

Spring and fall or winter windows for each state or region; within a window, soil temperature and the forecast pick the day.

North and Upper Midwest (Zones 3–5). Sow as soon as the soil can be raked and keep sowing until about a month before early-summer heat. Late-summer sowings then mature in the cool weather of fall.

Midwest, Mountain West and Mid-Atlantic (Zones 5–7). In central Missouri, loose-leaf lettuce goes in from mid-March to early May, while butterhead and romaine sowings end earlier, around April 20. In Utah and Colorado, the first sowings go in 2 to 4 weeks before the last frost, as soon as the soil is dry. In Virginia's Zone 7a, lettuce for baby salad goes in from March 20 to May 10 and again from August 20 to October 1, sown in several rounds.

Southeast (Zones 7–9). Fall lettuce is not recommended in most of western North Carolina, where early frost is the risk, or in the South Carolina Piedmont. There, sow in spring, and at higher elevations in western North Carolina, through summer. Eastern North Carolina and the South Carolina coast get both seasons, with spring sowings starting in early February.

Texas (Zones 6–9). Spring sowing runs from 6 weeks before to 2 weeks after the last frost. Fall sowing starts 10 to 14 weeks before the first fall freeze. The average fall date for leaf lettuce moves later from north to south: September 1 in Zone 6, September 15 in Zone 7, October 10 in Zone 8, November 1 in Zone 9a and December 1 in Zone 9b.

Florida, the low desert and coastal California (Zones 9–11). Grow lettuce as a winter crop: September through February in central and south Florida, mid-August through mid-February around Phoenix and August through April on California's south coast. North Florida is the exception, with a short February-to-March season. Summer sowings fail twice over: the seed stays dormant in hot soil, and any plants that do grow turn bitter and bolt.

Pacific Northwest. Mild summers keep the window open for months. Across western Oregon and Washington, sow in rounds from mid-April to early August and sow winter lettuce in early September. On the Oregon coast leaf lettuce goes in February through August, in the western valleys April through August, and in the Columbia and Snake River valleys only February through April.

Starting lettuce indoors

Start transplants 4 to 6 weeks before the last frost and set them out around the frost date, once they have 4 to 6 true leaves.

Indoor starts are optional for leaf lettuce, which sprouts readily outdoors; seed sown in the garden can go in 2 to 3 weeks before transplants could. Crisphead (iceberg), the type quickest to bolt in heat, is the one usually grown from transplants. Harden seedlings for 3 to 5 days before planting by setting them outdoors for longer each day. That short step is what lets a new transplant ride out a frosty night in its first week outside.

Transplants also pay off in fall wherever late summer is hot. In Texas, fall crops generally do better from transplants than from seed. With lettuce, warm late-summer soil also cuts germination.

How to sow lettuce

Sow shallow, sow thin and thin early.

1. Open shallow furrows. Make them 1/4 to 1/2 inch (6–13 mm) deep and 12 to 18 inches (30–45 cm) apart. Lettuce needs only a thin cover, and some varieties need light to sprout.
2. Sow thinly. Drop about 10 seeds per foot (30 cm) of row, so seedlings come up with room to thin rather than in a mat.
3. Press light-needing seed onto the surface. Some varieties, especially white-seeded ones, need light to germinate, so press them onto the soil instead of burying them.
4. Keep the seedbed moist. Water gently and keep the top of the soil damp until seedlings appear, usually in 4 to 10 days. Shallow seed sits in the layer of soil that dries fastest.
5. Thin when seedlings are 1 to 2 inches (2.5–5 cm) tall. Thin early so each plant has room to reach full size. Leave leaf lettuce 4 to 8 inches (10–20 cm) apart, romaine and butterhead 6 to 12 inches (15–30 cm) and crisphead 10 to 15 inches (25–38 cm).

The same depth, spacing and soil-temperature check apply in a raised bed.

Succession sowing and fall lettuce

For a steady supply, sow a short row every 10 to 14 days, and stop spring sowings about a month before early-summer heat.

For a smaller, less frequent supply, stretch the gap to 2 to 3 weeks. Switch to heat-tolerant varieties for the last spring sowings, because each later row matures into longer, warmer days. Harvest promptly: heads left standing after they mature bolt, sunburn or take freeze damage, which is why several small sowings beat one big one.

For fall, work backward from the cold. Pick a variety and count back its days to maturity, so the heads are ready 1 to 2 weeks before your first fall frost. If the catalog counts from transplanting and you are sowing seed, add about two weeks. For 50- to 60-day leaf lettuce, that works out to sowing roughly 8 to 12 weeks before the median first fall frost. Plants left in the garden ride through light frosts after that, so the harvest can run past the first frost date.

Fall sowings start in the hottest stretch of the year, so give the seed what it needs to break dormancy. Sow in the cool of the evening into moist soil, use pelleted or primed seed, and shade the bed with 50% shade cloth or floating row cover until seedlings have about six leaves. Shade new transplants at midday for their first week.

In Maryland and similar Mid-Atlantic climates, some varieties overwinter from healthy 3-week-old transplants set out around October 15. They root in before the cold, survive the winter under protection and resume growth in spring for an early harvest.

Lettuce types and varieties that change the timing

Variety decides how many days you need before heat or hard cold arrives, and whether lettuce suits a summer or winter sowing at all.

Ranges vary with climate and with whether the count starts at seeding or transplanting.

Some seed catalogs count days from transplanting into cool spring soil rather than from sowing. Add about 14 days when you sow seed directly, and subtract 10 to 14 days for transplants set out in warm weather, when growth is faster.

For late spring and summer sowings, choose heat-tolerant or slow-bolting varieties, because lengthening days and rising heat together push plants to bolt. Salad Bowl, Oakleaf, Jericho and Summertime handle heat well, and Buttercrunch and Great Lakes are slow to bolt. Salvius, a romaine ready 58 days from transplanting, is bred to resist both bolting and heat.

For fall and overwintering, choose cold-tolerant varieties. Winter Density, a mid-size romaine ready 44 days from transplanting, tolerates frost as well as heat and bulks up quickly in cold weather. For transplants meant to last the winter, the recommended varieties are Black Seeded Simpson, Salad Bowl, Winter Density, Brune d'Hiver, Winter Marvel and Arctic King.

For the main spring and fall seasons, Parris Island Cos romaine, Buttercrunch butterhead and Black Seeded Simpson leaf lettuce are dependable choices from the Mountain West to the Carolinas.

What happens if you plant too early or too late

Too early mostly costs time; too late costs the crop.

Too early. Seed sown into soil below 35°F (2°C) sits without sprouting, and seed near 40°F (4°C) comes up slowly. Unhardened transplants set out before a hard freeze are the bigger risk, since repeated or prolonged subfreezing nights injure or kill them. Wait for the soil reading, harden transplants, and keep a cover ready.

Too late. A spring sowing that runs into heat stunts, sends up a seedstalk and turns bitter, and heads loosen and develop tipburn. A summer sowing may not sprout at all. If you miss the spring window, skip ahead to the fall window rather than sowing into early summer. A fall sowing made too late in a cold-winter zone runs out of season before the plants size up, so count back from your first-frost date or plan on row cover.

If a hard freeze is forecast

Cover lettuce when the forecast calls for a hard freeze (28°F, −2°C, or lower) or several nights below freezing. A light-to-medium spun-bonded row cover adds about 4°F (2°C) of protection. Hardened young plants survive a brief dip to 20°F (−7°C), but a long or repeated freeze does real damage, so keep the cover on through a cold spell and lift it once days warm up.

To schedule lettuce alongside the rest of the cool-season garden, see when to plant peas, radish sowing dates and planting dates for other vegetables, or set a reminder for each succession sowing in Sow's garden calendar.