Lentil is grown for its pods, ready to pick about 100 days after sowing. It's hardy across USDA zones 2 through 11. Its flowers are a modest draw for honeybees, even though the pods are the prize. A nitrogen-fixer, it draws nitrogen from the air and feeds it back to the soil — turn it under or leave the roots in place, and the next planting inherits a richer bed.
Lentil — the short answer
Lentil: grown in zones 2–11, full sun, pH 4.5–8.2, about 100 days to maturity.
- USDA zones
- 2–11
- Manual horticultural correction (source not retained); NC State Extension and Missouri Botanical Garden, with the remaining rows from other published sources or Growable Ground compilation
- Soil pH
- 4.5–8.2
- FAO ECOCROP
- Sun
- Full Sun
- Growable Ground Plant Database
- Days to Maturity
- 100 days
- OSU-PNW; ATTRA
Plant data: Growable Ground Plant Database, compiled from FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS and university Extension sources — each tile names its own row's source, because per-field provenance varies.
Score Lentil on your exact land.
Zone averages can't see the slope, soil, frost, and sun that decide whether lentil actually takes — and those shift from one yard to the next. Enter your address and we'll score lentil against your land's real conditions.
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
No card required · your full report in seconds
What Lentil is
Lentil reaches around a foot and a half at maturity.
How to grow Lentil
Lentil grows in USDA zones 2 through 11 and is ready to harvest about 100 days after planting. Lentil does best in full sun — at least 6 hours of direct sun a day — and soil from pH 4.5 to 8.2, on well-drained ground. It needs around 1,500 growing degree days to mature and a growing season of at least 70 frost-free days, which is why climate matters as much as soil.
USDA Zones
2-11
USDA PHZM 2023
Soil pH
4.5 - 8.2
FAO ECOCROP
Sun
Full Sun
Growable Ground plant catalog
Drainage
well (dry spells)
Growable Ground plant catalog
Minimum Growing Temperature
41°F
Below this it stops growing rather than dies — a pace limit, not a survival limit.
FAO ECOCROP
Days to Maturity
100 days
Lentil; cool-season legume; harvest when pods dry.
OSU-PNW; ATTRA
GDD Required
1500+
Growing degree-days of accumulated warmth it needs to mature — humid summers reach this faster than cool coastal ones.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Mature Height
1.5 ft
Growable Ground plant catalog
Frost-Free Days
70+
The frost-free stretch it needs start to finish — short-season areas may need an indoor head start.
Growable Ground plant catalog
Start the season right
Plant lentil in full sun with at least 6 hours of direct sun, once the soil has warmed and frost risk has passed.
Match the soil
Lentil prefers pH 4.5 to 8.2 (FAO ECOCROP). A quick soil test from your local Extension lab tells you whether to add lime or sulfur to land in band. It fixes its own nitrogen, so skip the high-nitrogen feed and instead dust the seed with a matching rhizobium inoculant at sowing.
Water steadily
Keep the root zone evenly moist through establishment. A 2–3 inch mulch layer holds moisture without waterlogging.
Harvest at maturity
Lentil is ready about 100 days after sowing (OSU-PNW; ATTRA). Pick the pods young and tender, before the seeds inside fully swell.
Where Lentil thrives
On hardiness alone, lentil grows across most of the country — its range (USDA zones 2 through 11) is unusually wide. Zone is only the starting point, though: the soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific land decide how well it actually does.
A USDA zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme winter minimum, so zones 2–11 spans average winter lows from -50°F to 50°F (USDA PHZM 2023). Across the 50 states and DC, that band covers 48 outright and splits 3 more down the middle — and which side of that line your land sits on changes the answer.
Zones 2–11·Where Lentil growsOpen map →
Continental US shown — Alaska and US Pacific territories sit outside the federal map's polygon dataset.
Where Lentil stands, state by state
Lentil is rated for zones 2–11 — a cold floor USDA puts at -50 to -40°F. Across the 50 states and DC, 48 sit fully inside that band, the line runs through 3 more, and 0 sit outside it — and inside every split state, the same line runs on at county grain.
Fully inside zones 2–11
48 states
3 of 48 shown
State zone extents: USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map (PHZM) 2023. A zone is a 10°F band of average annual extreme minimum temperature, so a state that splits the band contains the boundary — its own page draws the county line, and a parcel report resolves which side your land sits on.
What grows around Lentil
Growing guides for lentil
In rotation planning, lentil counts as a Legume — beds recover best when legume crops don’t follow each other in the same spot year over year. (Growable Ground derivation — crop-rotation group from botanical family)
Related plants in vegetable
Good to know
Good news for pet owners — lentil isn't known to be toxic to dogs or cats. (Source: ASPCA.)
Lentil offers low value to bees and other pollinators.
Before you harvest lentil, know your soil
Anything you grow to eat takes up what's in the ground it grows in, so it's worth knowing what's documented near you before you plant lentil for food. Our free screen reads 9 federal source types across roughly 1.8M indexed sites and shows which sit near your address and which way they drain. It's a screening estimate from public records and proximity — not a soil test — so a nearby record means a soil test is worth it, not that your soil is unsafe.
Your land is one point inside Lentil's range
This page resolves to the species. Your state page draws the county line, and a report reads the parcel — the soil pH, drainage, sun, and frost dates on your exact ground, which no species average can see.
See if Lentil will thrive on your land
Zone averages are a start. Your exact soil pH, drainage, sun exposure, and frost dates shape whether lentil actually takes — we score it against the real conditions at your address.
Three things about your exact spot that zone averages miss:
We read public map data for this spot — soil, climate, flood, and parcel records. How we handle your address.
25+ data sources analyzed in seconds
How we know this about Lentil
The figures above are cited per row, not per site: the pH band names this plant’s own source column, the three temperature figures each carry their own, and days-to-maturity cites the publication that actually lists it. All of it comes from the Growable Ground Plant Database — a compilation over FAO ECOCROP, USDA PLANTS, and university Extension sources, published openly with per-field provenance.
Grounded inUSDA PLANTS Database•USDA PHZM•ASPCA
Frequently asked questions
Can I grow Lentil in my zone?
Lentil grows in USDA hardiness zones 2 through 11 (USDA PHZM 2023). Zone is one factor — soil pH, drainage, and frost dates on your specific parcel also shape whether it takes.
How long does Lentil take to grow?
Lentil is ready to harvest about 100 days after planting (OSU-PNW; ATTRA). Your local frost dates and soil temperature move that window earlier or later.
When should you plant Lentil?
Most growers plant lentil after the last spring frost, once the soil has warmed, leaving enough of the season for its 70-day frost-free need. Your local frost dates set the exact window — a Growable Ground report reads them for your address.
How much sun does Lentil need?
Lentil needs full sun — a spot that catches at least 6 hours of direct summer sun a day. In more shade it still grows, but usually gives a smaller, later crop. The catch is that a yard rarely gets even light everywhere — a fence, the house, or one tall tree can quietly take those hours. A Growable Ground report reads the real sun-hours across your land, canopy and buildings included, so you can pick the brightest bed before you plant.
What soil does Lentil need?
Lentil prefers soil pH 4.5 to 8.2, on well-drained ground (FAO ECOCROP). Your report scores your parcel's actual soil against that using USDA SSURGO data.
Does Lentil attract pollinators?
Yes — lentil's flowers are a modest nectar source for honeybees.
Is Lentil safe for pets?
Lentil is not known to be toxic to dogs or cats based on available data. Always supervise pets around new plantings. (Source: ASPCA.)