Here’s how to grow lettuce for fresh salads straight from your own garden.
Lettuce is suitable for small-space gardens and exceptionally easy to grow in cool weather.
Where to Plant Lettuce
Lettuce is a mainstay of spring gardens.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
This vegetable loves cool weather (and usually bolts when warm weather moves in).
Choose afull-sunspot with loose, well-draining soil.
This annual vegetable is easy togrow in containersand small gardens and containers.
Credit: Scott Little
How and When to Plant Lettuce
In early spring, sow seeds for loose-leaf or head lettuce.
Plant fall crops in early September after the summer heat passes and winter crops throughout fall in mild climates.
Any less light than that causes leggy growth.
Credit: Julie Maris Semarco
Soil and Water
Loose,well-draining soilis ideal for lettuce plants.
They require steady moisture, or they might bolt or taste bitter.
Later, water whenever the soil is dry to 1 inch.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
Heat is another matter though.
Some varieties have more heat tolerance than others.
Protect planting beds withrow coversor netting to deter birds attracted to the young seedlings.
Credit: Peter Krumhardt
As long as the soil remains moist, humidity is not a problem for lettuce plants.
Vigilance and quick response are necessary to stop these garden pests from devouring your lettuce.
Depending on the pests, an tool ofneem oilor a blast of water from a garden hose will help.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
Avoid most of these problems by covering the young plants with a floating row cover of insect netting.
Pick individual seed heads or shake the flowers over a container every few days.
Put them in a single layer in a dry place.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
When they are dry, move them to a paper bag for storage until needed.
Given plenty of light, it will regrow leaves.
Continue to harvest outer leaves as long as the flavor remains good.
Credit: Marty Baldwin
Lettuce Types
Loose-leaf lettuce displays an open-growth pattern and does not form a head.
This butterhead lettuce grows 8 to 12 inches tall and is ready to harvest in 65 days.
Ithaca
Lactuca sativaIthaca forms a firm, iceberg-key in head with good disease resistance.
Credit: Peter Krumhardt
It grows 6 to 12 inches tall and wide and is ready in 70 days.
Its 6-10 inch center is ready in 65 days, but the outer leaves can be harvested earlier.
It grows to 10 to 12 inches talland is upright.
Credit:Dana Gallagher
The head is ready in 70 days, but thesmall outer leaves can be harvested earlier.
When kept moist, it doesnt turn bitter when warm weather arrives.
It is ready in 60 days.
Credit: Matthew Benson
It is an excellent choice for a fall crop.
This lettuce grows only 6 inches tall but spreads to 16 inches wide.
It produces a cluster of undulating leaves and is ready in 45 days.
Credit: Illustration by Gary Palmer
Royal Oak Leaf
Lactuca sativaRoyal Oak Leaf is a long-standing green leaf lettuce that tolerates heat well.
A red version is also available.
This large plant grows to 20 inches tall and is ready in 50 days.
Credit: Illustration by Helen Smythe
Enjoy the freshest flavors of the season with this simplespring vegetable garden plan.
Frequently Asked Questions
After the plants are established, a layer of mulch helps with water retention.
Loose-leaf lettuce is the easiest to grow and the fastest to harvest.
Leaves can be harvested in only five to six weeks.
