Safe to Plant

Lettuce · Laiwu, Shandong, China

When to plant lettuce in Laiwu

Main outdoor window

14-28 Mar

The window this page is built around.

Timed from last spring frost

4 April

In Laiwu, on your chosen risk.

Ready to pick

28 Apr - 13 May

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 Laiwu

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

21 Feb - 7 Mar

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

Sow for autumn

4-25 Aug

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

Sow direct

14-28 Mar

Three weeks before your last frost.

Plant out

21 Mar - 4 Apr

Two weeks before your last frost.

Harvest

28 Apr - 13 May

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

Lettuce through the year

Against the frost risk in Laiwu

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

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

Why these dates

Sow every ten days from six weeks before last frost. Pause through midsummer, then resume for an autumn crop - late sowings are often the best of the year.

Tolerates -3C and a light frost actually sweetens the leaf. Seed germinates poorly above 25C, which is the more common problem.

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. 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 Laiwu.

The median frost-free season here is 217 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 Laiwu →

Nearby

Lettuce in places close by

Tai’an 48 km Zibo 76 km Jinan 79 km Jining 131 km Linyi 140 km Weifang 141 km

Also in Laiwu

Other vegetables to time

Tomatoes tender 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 lettuce in Laiwu

When should I plant lettuce in Laiwu?

Aim for 14-28 Mar in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 26 Mar - 9 Apr - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.

When will lettuce be ready to harvest in Laiwu?

Expect to start picking around 28 Apr - 13 May, based on 45 to 60 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.

How much frost will lettuce tolerate?

Tolerates -3C and a light frost actually sweetens the leaf. Seed germinates poorly above 25C, which is the more common problem.