Lettuce · Thembisa, Gauteng, South Africa

When to plant lettuce in Thembisa

Main outdoor window

15-29 Jul

The window this page is built around.

Timed from last spring frost

5 August

In Thembisa, on your chosen risk.

Ready to pick

29 Aug - 13 Sep

If you plant at the start of the window.

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

Cautious Balanced Bold

Step by step in Thembisa

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

24 Jun - 8 Jul

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

Sow for autumn

2-23 Mar

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

Sow direct

15-29 Jul

Three weeks before your last frost.

Plant out

22 Jul - 5 Aug

Two weeks before your last frost.

Harvest

29 Aug - 13 Sep

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 Thembisa

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 Thembisa.

The median frost-free season here is 304 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 Thembisa →

Nearby

Lettuce in places close by

Centurion 16 km Benoni 23 km Boksburg 24 km Randburg 25 km Germiston 27 km Pretoria 28 km

Also in Thembisa

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 Thembisa

When should I plant lettuce in Thembisa?

Aim for 15-29 Jul in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 9-23 Aug - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.

When will lettuce be ready to harvest in Thembisa?

Expect to start picking around 29 Aug - 13 Sep, 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.