Plant Lettuce in Zone 9b

Zone 9b averages 298 frost-free days, running from a last spring frost around February 15 to a first fall frost around December 10. Lettuce needs roughly 50 days from planting out to first harvest, so it uses about 17 percent of that window. Lettuce is a hardy crop, which is what decides where in the window it belongs.

Because lettuce needs a head start, sow seed indoors around Jan 18, about 4 weeks ahead of the Zone 9b last frost. Transplants go out around Feb 1. Starting earlier than that in Zone 9b usually backfires: plants outgrow their cells and stall when they finally hit cold soil. At 50 days to harvest, a 298-day Zone 9b season has room for about 4 sowings, so stagger them rather than planting everything at once.

Yes. Sow lettuce by October 21 in Zone 9b. That is 50 days before the average first frost, which covers the 50 days to maturity plus about two weeks for the slower growth that comes with shortening days, minus the roughly 14 days lettuce keeps going once light frost arrives.

Lettuce bolts in heat. Fall sowings ripen into cooling weather instead of out of it, which is why fall lettuce is usually the better crop.