Lettuce planting dates by zone

Choosing a lettuce

University of Illinois Extension describes five types: leaf (loose-leaf), the most widely adapted; romaine (cos), with an upright, elongated head; butterhead, small and loose-headed; crisphead, the iceberg type, which needs the most care; and stem lettuce. UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions says all of the main types grow in Florida, but leaf lettuce often works best in its mild climate.

Heat is what ends lettuce, so choose for it. Clemson’s Home & Garden Information Center says slow-bolting or heat-resistant varieties extend the season and lists ‘Slobolt’ among its green leaf lettuces; University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension notes heat tolerance in ‘Amish Deer Tongue’ and calls ‘Bergamo’ very slow to bolt. Clemson says crisphead is hard for many South Carolina gardeners because it lacks heat tolerance, and University of Minnesota Extension recommends cold-tolerant varieties with a short growth cycle.

Sowing and planting

Lettuce takes light frost, Clemson says, so it goes in before the last freeze. The table gives three spring dates, our crop table’s timing: start seed indoors 6 weeks before the median last freeze, set plants out 2 weeks before it, or sow outdoors 3 weeks before it. Minnesota direct-seeds as soon as the soil can be worked in April, or starts seed indoors in early April to transplant in late April and early May; Illinois plants leaf, cos and butterhead lettuce any time in spring when the soil is dry enough to rake.

Sow shallow. Minnesota and Illinois plant seed 1/4 to 1/2 inch deep and Clemson one-quarter inch. Illinois thins leaf lettuce to 4 inches apart and cos or butterhead to 6 to 8 inches, and sets crisphead transplants 10 to 12 inches apart; UF/IFAS spaces transplants 6 to 8 inches apart, crisphead at least 10.

Illinois says crisphead must be transplanted in most places, started indoors or in a cold frame and set out as early as the weather settles. Minnesota says starting seed indoors lets you space young plants correctly without stooping to thin them, and that pelleted seed is easier to place evenly.

Keeping lettuce coming

Illinois sows again every 10 to 14 days for a steady supply, and says spring planting should be finished at least a month before the hot days of early summer begin. Minnesota spaces plantings a couple of weeks apart, and Clemson grows several plantings each spring and fall.

For fall, the table’s last sowing is 31 days before the median first fall freeze, our crop table’s days to harvest less the light frost lettuce takes. Minnesota sows its fall crop earlier, about three months before the average first fall frost, and starts seed indoors in July for transplanting in August. Illinois says late-summer plantings mature in cool fall weather and may benefit from some shade.

Water often. Illinois says frequent light watering gives fast, high-quality growth, while overwatering heavy soils leads to disease and scorched leaf edges. Clemson waters in the morning, enough to wet the soil 6 inches down, and says lettuce seedlings compete poorly with weeds.

Southern timing

In the South lettuce is a fall, winter and spring crop. Clemson’s planting table gives the South Carolina Piedmont March 1 to May 15, with no fall planting, and the Coastal Plain February 1 to April 15 in spring and September 5 to November 1 in fall; it says excellent lettuce can be grown all winter in South Carolina, covered with a small hoop house or spun-bonded row cover on the coldest nights.

UF/IFAS calls winter the perfect time to grow lettuce in Florida. Texas A&M AgriLife’s home vegetable gardening guide sows lettuce 6 weeks before or 2 weeks after the frost-free date in spring, and 10 to 14 weeks before the first freeze in fall.

Harvest

Illinois cuts leaf lettuce whenever it is large enough to use, and says it reaches full size in 50 to 60 days and butterheads in 60 to 70. UF/IFAS says lettuce is ready within 4 to 6 weeks of planting in Florida and cuts the larger outer leaves first so the inner ones keep growing. Clemson says head lettuce can be ready in as little as 55 days, and that romaine is ready when its leaves overlap into a partly tight head 6 to 8 inches tall.

When a seedstalk starts in the center, Illinois says, harvest the plant at once: long days, warm weather and age together cause it, and the leaves turn bitter.

Common problems

Bolting and bitterness come with heat (Illinois, Clemson). Tipburn, browning at the leaf edges, Illinois puts down to a change in the balance of water between soil and plant and says frequent light watering helps prevent it; Clemson adds calcium shortage, uneven watering and wind.

Minnesota watches for cutworms, slugs and snails and flea beetles; Illinois for aphids under the leaves; Clemson names cabbage loopers, leafhoppers and the rots gray mold, bottom rot and drop. Illinois says lettuce seed does not keep well, so buy new seed each spring, and that some varieties need light to germinate.

Common mistakes

• Sowing too deep or too thick. Minnesota says the tiny seed is easy to overdo.
• Planting spring lettuce too late. Illinois says to finish at least a month before the hot days of early summer.
• Letting a bolting plant stand. Illinois says harvest it immediately, before it turns bitter.
• Old seed. Illinois says lettuce seed does not keep well.
• Crisphead in a hot climate. Clemson says many South Carolina gardeners find it hard to grow.

We found no lettuce source for Louisiana, Alabama or Mississippi that we read for this page. The Southern timing here is Clemson’s, UF/IFAS’s and Texas A&M AgriLife’s.

Questions

When should I plant lettuce?

Before the last spring freeze: lettuce takes light frost, Clemson says. The table gives our crop table’s three spring dates for each zone, from NOAA records: start indoors 6 weeks before the median last freeze, set out 2 weeks before it, or sow outdoors 3 weeks before it.

Why is my lettuce bitter?

University of Illinois Extension says lettuce turns bitter in hot weather and when a seedstalk begins to form; harvest it then. Clemson says heat-resistant, slow-bolting varieties extend the season.

How often should I sow lettuce?

Illinois sows every 10 to 14 days for a continuous supply, and Minnesota every couple of weeks.

Can lettuce grow in winter?

In the South, yes. Clemson says excellent lettuce can be grown all winter in South Carolina with a cover on the coldest nights, and UF/IFAS calls winter the perfect time to grow it in Florida.

How late can I sow lettuce for fall?

The table’s last fall sowing is 31 days before each zone’s median first fall freeze. University of Minnesota Extension sows its fall crop about three months before the average first frost.

Sources

Freeze dates on this page are NOAA 1991–2020 Climate Normals, for every station the ZIP codes in each zone cite. Zones are the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map, 2023. The planting rules are named beside the table. Growing advice is quoted from the extension publications below, each written for its own area.

• University of Minnesota Extension, Growing lettuce, endive and radicchio in home gardens (Reviewed 2024). Written for: Minnesota (USDA zones 3a–5a).
• University of Illinois Extension, Lettuce (Home Vegetable Gardening) . Written for: Illinois (USDA zones 5a–7a).
• University of Wisconsin–Madison Extension, Lettuce Shows . Written for: Wisconsin (USDA zones 4a–6a).
• Clemson Cooperative Extension, Home & Garden Information Center, Lettuce (HGIC 1312) (Updated January 24, 2023). Written for: South Carolina (USDA zones 8a–9b).
• UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions, Lettuce (Accessed October 2026). Written for: Florida (USDA zones 8b–11b).
• Texas A&M AgriLife Extension, Texas Home Vegetable Gardening Guide (EHT-077) , by Joseph Masabni (June 2014). Written for: Texas (USDA zones 6b–10b).

How we write our guides

Published October 27, 2026