Safe to Plant

Butterhead lettuce · Chengdu, Sichuan, China

When to plant butterhead lettuce in Chengdu

Main outdoor window

24 Jan - 7 Feb

The window this page is built around.

Timed from last spring frost

14 February

In Chengdu, on your chosen risk.

Ready to pick

1 May - 31 Oct

If you plant at the start of the window.

The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.

Step by step in Chengdu

Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.

Start indoors

3-17 Jan

Six weeks before your last frost, under cover or on a windowsill.

Sow for autumn

6-27 Sep

Counting back 74 days from your first frost so the crop matures in time.

Sow direct

24 Jan - 7 Feb

Three weeks before your last frost.

Sow direct

31 Jan - 14 Feb

Two weeks before your last frost.

Harvest

1 May - 31 Oct

Sow in succession. A single sowing gives you a single glut. Sow a short row every 10 days through the window above and you get a steady supply instead.
Frost tolerance
Half-hardy
Damaged below
-3°C (26.6°F)
Days to maturity
45–60
Min soil temp
4.5°C (40.1°F)
Spacing
25 cm
Sowing depth
6 mm (0.2 in)
Sun
Partial

Butterhead lettuce through the year

Against the frost risk in Chengdu

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
Butterhead lettuce

Frost risk Start indoors Autumn sowing Sow direct Plant out Harvest Today

Why these dates

Sow every ten days from six weeks before the last frost, then stop through the hottest weeks and resume eight weeks before the first autumn frost.

Damaged below about -3C. It is heat rather than cold that ends this crop, with seed germinating badly above 25C.

Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Butterhead lettuce are timed from 6 weeks before that frost for an indoor start, with planting out 2 weeks before it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Chengdu.

The median frost-free season here is 300 days, against 45 to 60 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.

See every crop timed for Chengdu →

Nearby

Butterhead lettuce in places close by

Meishan 73 km Ziyang 82 km Mianyang 107 km Neijiang 154 km Zigong 162 km Nanchong 193 km

Also in Chengdu

Other vegetables to time

Tomatoes tender Lettuce half hardy Potatoes half hardy Courgettes tender Sweet peppers tender Carrots hardy Cucumbers tender Green beans tender Peas hardy Garlic very hardy Chilli peppers tender Sweetcorn tender

Growing butterhead lettuce in Chengdu

When should I plant butterhead lettuce in Chengdu?

Aim for 24 Jan - 7 Feb in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 13-27 Feb - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.

When will butterhead lettuce be ready to harvest in Chengdu?

Expect to start picking around 1 May - 31 Oct, based on 45 to 60 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.

How much frost will butterhead lettuce tolerate?

Damaged below about -3C. It is heat rather than cold that ends this crop, with seed germinating badly above 25C.