You might not be surprised to seek out out that the foremost widely planted salad vegetable within the us is lettuce. because the foundation of your salad and your garden, lettuce is a perfect garden vegetable. you’ll tuck it into small areas, it grows easily and it loves cool weather. These lettuce growing tips will keep your garden and salad bowl filled with crisp, green lettuce.

• How to Grow Lettuce
• How to Harvest Lettuce
• Growing differing types of Lettuce
• Common questions on Growing Lettuce

How to Grow Lettuce

Lettuce is an easy-to-grow annual vegetable. Considered a spring and fall crop, lettuce thrives when temperatures are between 60 to 70 degrees F. many sorts reach maturity in as little as 30 days, and a few can even be harvested much earlier as microgreens. From your garden beds to patio containers, these simple steps will offer you a bountiful supply of crisp salad greens throughout multiple seasons.

When to Plant Lettuce

Lettuce loves cool weather. you’ll begin planting leaf, romaine, and lettuce as soon because the soil is often worked within the spring. counting on the variability, lettuce germinates in temperatures between 40 to 85 degrees F. If you plant lettuce in successive plantings, with 10 to 14 days in between, you’ll have an extended harvest. to stop summer bolt, stop planting one month before warm summer temperatures start. Begin planting fall lettuce in late summer so it reaches maturity when the autumn air is cool.

Head lettuce is typically started indoors or during a protective covering and transplanted within the spring after the last frost date. Growing lettuce from seedlings for early spring transplant may be a great way to urge a start on the season .

Where to Plant Lettuce

The ideal lettuce growing location for spring and fall is during a spot that receives full sun. If you propose growing lettuce during the summer or in warm planting zones, partial shade can provide protection from the warmth. Growing lettuce from seed in late summer may require generous artificial shade to assist cool the soil for germination. Once days become cooler, the shade is often removed to offer much sunlight to young lettuce plants.

Lettuce grows best in loose, cool soil with good drainage. The addition of organic materials, like compost or manure, will increase drainage, provide essential nutrients and improve your lettuce growing conditions. If you’ve had trouble with lettuce growth, consider purchasing a soil test kit. Lettuce is sensitive to low pH. The addition of lime can help bring the pH to a minimum of 6.0.

How to Plant Lettuce

It doesn’t take much work to grow lettuce from seeds. Lettuce seeds are often quite small and only require a planting depth of ¼ to ½ inches deep. Growing lettuce in rows gives your garden a standard look. Consider alternating rows of green and red lettuce for a whimsical touch.

How far apart to plant lettuce depends on the sort of lettuce you’re planting. When sowing seeds directly into the soil, you ought to plant approximately 10 seeds per foot. Space your rows 12 to 18 inches apart. Thin leaf lettuce seedlings to 4 inches apart. Romaine and lettuce seedlings require 6 to eight inches between each plant. Removed seedlings are often transplanted or eaten as delicious, tender microgreens.

Head lettuce is typically grown from seeds started indoors during warm weather for a fall garden. Transplant Lactuca sativa capitata in rows 12 to 18 inches apart with 10 to 12 inches between each plant.

Water Requirements for Lettuce

You don’t need lettuce to develop deep roots. In fact, you would like to encourage leaf growth over rooting. Lettuce watering should be light, frequent, and consistent. The goal is to easily keep the soil moist. Avoid watering too often – overwatering results in plant disease , disease and stunted growth.

Protecting Against Disease and Pests

Aphids can easily destroy a lettuce patch. Leaves curl and wilt as nutrients and water are sucked away. Aphids also spread disease and make mold issues. You’ll find these annoying little white pests hiding on the undersides of lettuce leaves. There isn’t a systemic insecticide to regulate aphids, so your best choice is to encourage natural predators, like lady beetles, or to use a horticultural soap or neem oil.

Snails, slugs and caterpillars also love lettuce. Insecticides are one option, but traps, organic bait and hand picking provide organic solutions to those common pests.

If you notice your lettuce starting to brown and curl, it might be affected by a physiological state referred to as tipburn. Tipburn is usually seen on lettuce when moisture isn’t consistent. Simply trim the browned lettuce and start a uniform watering schedule.

How to Harvest Lettuce

You don’t need to worry about the way to pick lettuce – it’s one of the only vegetables to reap. Most lettuces are often harvested between 30 to 70 days after planting. When to reap lettuce depends on the variability and what it’ll be used for. Really, timing is predicated on individual preference. Once your lettuce reaches the dimensions you would like, it’s ready! Harvesting lettuce within the morning gives you the simplest flavor.

Knowing the way to harvest leaf lettuce is straightforward . you’ll either cut the whole dispatch at ground level, otherwise you can remove just a couple of leaves at a time. Romaine, butterhead and Lactuca sativa capitata are easily stop near ground level. If you harvest every other lettuce plant, you give the remaining plants room to continue growing.

Growing differing types of Lettuce

There are four popular sorts of lettuce grown within the United States: romaine, butterhead, head, and leaf lettuce. Although the growing and care process is analogous for all kinds, each lettuce has distinct characteristics within the garden.

Growing Green and Red Leaf Lettuce

Leaf lettuce varieties are the simplest lettuces to grow. Although many of us assume red leaf lettuce is grown differently, growing red leaf lettuce is strictly equivalent as growing green lettuce. you’ll grow leaf lettuce in rows for nice bundles of loose-leaf lettuce, otherwise, you can sow it thickly during a garden bed or container for harvest as young, tender lettuce. By harvesting leaf lettuce by trimming it a couple of inches above the soil, you’ll get two to 3 harvests from one planting. Popular cultivars include Red Sails, Tango and Slobolt.

Growing Romaine Lettuce

Romaine also referred to as cos, forms tall, tight bundles of thick, sweet lettuce leaves. Reaching up to twenty inches tall, most romaine lettuces take 60 to 80 days to reap. The extended season works because romaine is in a position to grow without bolting within the warm summers. Growing red romaine lettuce requires equivalent garden techniques as growing green varieties. Green Towers, Valley Heart and Red Eyes Cos are all interesting romaine cultivars.

Growing Lactuca sativa capitata

Crisphead lettuce, or head for brief, is that the lettuce we all know as Iceberg. one among the foremost popular sorts of lettuce, salad lovers everywhere in the country often wonder the way to grow crisphead lettuce. Growing crisphead lettuce requires a touch more care than other varieties. For the simplest results, plant Lactuca sativa capitata in your fall garden. By avoiding the nice and cozy summer weather, you produce sweeter lettuce. additionally to Iceberg, Ithaca, Great Lakes, and Crispivo are great Lactuca sativa capitata cultivars.

Growing lettuce

Butterhead lettuce varieties produce tightly folded heads of tender lettuce leaves. the center leaves are often self-blanching to a fragile white color. Named after the subtle butter flavor, this mild lettuce adds a sweet touch to salads. Try Eramosa, Esmeralda, or Nancy in your lettuce garden.

How Long Does It Take Lettuce to Grow?

Lettuce grows fairly quickly. Leaf varieties reach maturity in 30 days but are often harvested as soon as they reach the specified size. Other sorts of lettuce require 6 to eight weeks to succeed in full harvest size.

Can you grow lettuce year ’round?

Garden zones with minimum temperatures within the 60s can grow lettuce all year round. Lettuce seeds germinate in temperatures between 40 to 80 degrees F, counting on the cultivar. Active growth takes place when days are between 60 to 70 degrees. Warmer zones can grow lettuce throughout the winter if you stick with planting lettuce within the fall. Other areas can use modifications, like cold frames, row covers and greenhouses to increase the season .

Can you grow lettuce in hot weather?

Lettuce doesn’t like the weather. The plant panics and decides that it better produce seeds as quickly as possible. Seed stems develop, and therefore the plant begins diverting nutrients to seed production. This process, referred to as bolting, produces bitter lettuce.

To reduce lettuce bolting, first search for bolt-resistant lettuce cultivars. Slobolt, for instance, is often grown in warmer temperatures. Other gardening tricks to stop bolting in warm weather include planting lettuce in shady areas, using mulch to chill the bottom and conserve moisture, and providing a lightweight mist of overhead irrigation to chill plants.