Lettuce Grow

There are many sorts of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) you’ll grow, from soft and delicate Bibb lettuce to crisp and colorful rouge d’hiver. This easy-to-grow annual may be a classic for beginner and expert gardeners alike. Most types grow very quickly, maturing in five to eight weeks, and lots of are suitable for cut-and-come-again harvesting, so you’ll nip a couple of leaves anytime you would like a salad.

Lettuce is considered a cool-season vegetable, and in most home gardens it’s planted within the early spring and harvested in late spring to early summer, then it’s discarded in favor of other vegetables for the center of the summer. Some gardeners may replant a second crop of lettuce because the days grow cooler in fall, but most don’t grow lettuce within the least in the mid-summer period, focusing instead on warm-season vegetables. Savvy gardeners may plant lettuce among other warm-season vegetables, like tomatoes, in order that by the time the lettuce is finished in early summer, the warm-season vegetables are starting to take over the garden space.

lettuce plants and harvest
Botanical Name Lactuca sativa
Common Name Lettuce, garden lettuce 
Plant Type Annual 
Mature Size 6 to 12 inches tall and wide 
Sun Exposure Full sun to part shade 
Soil Type Rich, well-drained 
Soil pH Slightly acidic to neutral (6.0 to 6.5) 
Bloom TimeSeasonal
Flower Color Flowers not showy 
Hardiness Zones 2 to 11 
Native Area Mediterranean  
Toxicity Non-toxic 
lettuce growing in a container

Lettuce Care

Lettuce may be a cool-season crop and is best grown in either spring or fall when temperatures don’t attend extremes. However, albeit lettuce likes to grow during cool, damp days, lettuce seed germinates best in temperatures around 70 degrees Fahrenheit. this suggests you ought to start early-spring plantings within the garden with seedlings, instead of seed. If lettuce seed is put within the ground while it’s still cold and wet, the seed will simply rot. you’ll always start seed indoors then transplant the seedlings when all danger of frost has passed.

Lettuce is right for succession planting because it matures rapidly and may be planted quite closely. Choosing seasonal varieties will make it easier to stay the succession going. Lettuce can even be grown in containers or used as an ornamental border. Just remember that some animals love lettuce the maximum amount as we do.

Lettuce seeds need light to germinate, so barely cover the seed with soil, and keep it moist. Lettuce may be a fast grower. it’s able to transplant when several sets of leaves have developed. Don’t let the seedlings get overlarge before planting them out, or they’re going to bolt to seed the primary chance they get.

Light

Plant lettuce fully suns, ideally where it’ll receive six hours of sunlight per day. it’ll also grow in part-sun locations.

Soil

Lettuce likes soil rich in organic matter, like compost or composted manure. this is often one crop where extra nitrogen can’t hurt since all you would like from the plant is that the leaf. Amend your soil before planting, and side-dress again mid-season.

Water

Even with quite rich soil, salad greens need regular water. If the plants are allowed to stay dry for prolonged periods, especially in warm temperatures, they’re going to turn bitter, the leaves may get sun-scorched, and therefore the plants will eventually attend seed. However, don’t keep the world persistently damp or use mulch, which invites slugs.

Temperature and Humidity

Lettuce grows best during a temperature range of about 45 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. Hotter weather makes the leaves bitter.

Fertilizer

Growing lettuce in soil that’s rich in organic matter will provide it most of the nutrients it needs. But it never hurts to supplement with an organic-like fish emulsion once every fortnight. Dilute the fish emulsion to half-strength, and apply it to the soil instead of the leaves.

Lettuce Varieties

There are actually many lettuce varieties available, although some vary only slightly in size or days to reap. For practical purposes, lettuce is split into four distinct groups:

Crisphead forms a firm head with a crisp texture and distinct veins. Iceberg is that the most ordinarily grown commercial variety.

  • Ithaca: an honest choice for fall crops; heat can cause the heads to be looser; immune to bolting; 70 days to maturity
  • Summertime: Large heads slow to bolt within the summer heat, while the heads are forming; frilly leaves resist tip burn; 70 days to maturity

Butterhead also forms ahead, but the feel is more soft and pliable with less distinct veins compared to crisphead.

  • Bibb: An heirloom lettuce that has remained popular over the years; tender texture; 50 to 60 days to maturity
  • Buttercrunch: An American cousin of bibb, but more tolerant of hot weather; 65 days to maturity
  • Marvel of 4 seasons: a well-liked European variety having green leaves tipped with red; are often planted late in spring also as late in summer and fall; almost four seasons, but very close; 68 days to maturity

Looseleaf forms a sort of bunch rather than ahead. Looseleaf lettuce resprouts from a cut stem without losing quality in flavor or texture.

  • Salad bowl: An All America Winner; easy to grow and fairly heat-resistant; also a red salad bowl variety; 60 days to maturity
  • Lollo Bionda: A frilled-edge Italian lettuce that’s easy to grow and features a long harvest period; Lollo Rossa is its red cousin; 48 days to maturity
  • Oakleaf: Includes many varieties; grows during a rosette and works well as a cut-and-come-again type’ 45 to 55 days to maturity

Cos or Romaine is an upright plant with long, narrow leaves that look coarse but are literally quite tender.

  • Rouge deliver A red-leafed romaine with an honest cold tolerance; also performs well in spring and summer, making it ideal for succession planting; 60 days to maturity
  • Little gem mini romaine: An English heirloom that grows to only 5 to six inches with the crisp texture and therefore the romaine flavor of its big brother; 56 days to maturity
  • Mesclun: a mix of greens; typically harvested while young, so succession planning is essential; a few row foot is required for a salad; most are cut-and-come-again varieties (cut about 1 inch above the bottom with scissors to stay it growing); 35 to 45 days to maturity

Harvesting

You can harvest cut-and-come-again lettuce types as soon because the outer leaves reach about 6 inches long. If you’re growing Lactuca sativa capitata, make certain to reap before the top starts to elongate. meaning it’s able to bolt and therefore the flavor will suffer.

For the longest harvest, direct seed or transplant every 7 to 10 days. When direct seeding, seeds can either be broadcast and planted in wide rows or spaced 8 to 12 inches apart. Spacing is best if you would like it to mature into heads.

If you actually hate the thought of living without fresh lettuce during the season , there are a couple of tricks you’ll try:

Choose the proper Lettuce Variety

First, choose leaf varieties instead of head-forming lettuces. you’ll start harvesting leaf lettuces as soon because the outer leaves reach about 4 to six inches tall. If you narrow just these outer leaves, the remaining center leaves can continue growing. Not only does one get to start out harvesting early, but cutting like this tends to shock the lettuce plant, preventing it from thinking it’s matured and is prepared to bolt and attend seed.

Head-lettuces, on the opposite hand, take a short time to develop mature heads, and that they sometimes bolt even before decent edible heads can form. Leaf lettuces are a way more sensible choice for continued production.

Harvest Leaf Lettuce Frequently

If you retain lettuce leaves cropped short, the plants will still produce new leaves well into the summer. Allowing leaves to become large and mature signals the plant to send up seed bolts, which is that the point where it’ll not be edible. Keep your leaf lettuce cropped short, albeit it means discarding some leaves because there’s quite you’ll eat.

Provide Some Shade

Plant your lettuce within the shade of taller plants, like tomatoes, corn, or maybe vining crops like cucumbers and squash. you’ll do that once you first start seeding within the spring, or wherever there are bare spots within the garden to fill. Lettuce needs more sun within the cool spring than it does in summer, and positioning lettuce plants around taller plants, like tomatoes, will provide full sun in spring while the tomatoes are still short, but will offer relief from the extreme summer sun.

Sun cloth suspended above the lettuce plants on poles also can help shade the plants and delay their bolting impulse.

Keep Lettuce Plants Well Watered

Regular watering makes plants very forgiving of high temperatures. The evaporation of water from soil provides natural cooling. Water your lettuce plants every day—and even more often if it’s extremely hot and dry. The lettuce leaves are mostly water and can desiccate and wilt in strong sunlight and dry soil. Lettuce roots tend to be shallow, so frequent watering is more important than deep watering.

Transplant

If all else fails and it’s like your lettuce plants are able to bolt, dig them out of the bottom and replant them. like “cut and are available again” harvesting, this is often a shock to the plant’s system and it’ll once more specialize in growing roots and delay setting seed. Don’t keep them out of the bottom or allow the plants to dry out—just the act of lifting them and immediately replanting is enough of a shock.

Growing Lettuce in Summer

The early-season planting of lettuce is often harvested into early summer if you follow the above tips, but eventually, it’ll surrender to genetics and bolt with flower shoots. If you would like to possess lettuce to reap in late summer, you’ll probably need to plant a second crop in early summer. Lettuce seeds are often difficult to sprout in warm, dry conditions. do this trick to urge them to go:

  • Find a somewhat shady spot in your garden and provides it a deep soaking of water. Lay a board over the damp soil. The board should be a minimum of as large as your intended planting area.
  • Periodically lift the board and re-soak the soil for an additional two to 3 days. this could lower the temperature of the soil.
  • Plant your lettuce seeds within the prepared area and water them in well. Replace the board over the seeded ground.
  • Lift the board and water a day until you see signs of germination, at which era you’ll remove the board. It should take about 7 to 10 days for the lettuce seeds to sprout. Keep watering whenever the soil dries out. this will mean watering quite once each day, while the seedlings are tiny.

Once the plants are a couple of inches tall and prepared to start out harvesting, they ought to not need an excellent deal of additional water.

Finally, keep your lettuce seeds handy for a fall planting, when growing conditions are once more perfect for lettuce plants, and therefore the growing is straightforward . Leaf lettuces grow quickly, and within a couple of weeks of cool fall weather, you’ll have a number of the tastiest lettuce of the year.

Are you able to find out how to plant lettuce? This popular salad greens is one among the simplest crops to grow in garden beds and containers and is right for spring and autumn harvesting. Plus, it’s a speedy crop with baby greens able to pick around a month from seeding and full heads in two months or less.

In our family, we eat tons of salads and if you’re buying lettuce at the supermarket, the value quickly adds up. Growing your own lettuce is a simple thanks to save on grocery bills and luxuriate in months of homegrown organic greens.

Types of lettuce

There are many sorts of lettuce you’ll plant. I’m an enormous fan of leaf lettuce because it grows so quickly and you’ll harvest from each plant for weeks, but there are tons of sorts available in seed catalogs and on seed racks:

  • Looseleaf – Looseleaf lettuce is among the simplest to grow. It’s also super speedy, forming large loose heads in only five to 6 weeks.
  • Oakleaf – I grow oakleaf lettuces as leaf lettuce, harvesting often from the plants as they grow. If left to mature, they’re going to eventually form full-sized heads. The leaves are lobed like oak leaves, and maybe green or red, counting on the variability.
  • Romaine – an important ingredient in Caesar salad, romaine lettuce plants form tight, upright heads of crisp leaves.
  • Butterhead – lettuce, also referred to as Boston or Bibb, forms lovely loose heads of tender-crisp leaves. There are heat tolerant sorts of butterhead that will be grown in summer, also as cold-tolerant varieties for winter harvesting.
  • Iceberg – Iceberg, or iceberg lettuce features a reputation for being hard to grow but I’ve had no problem growing it in my raised beds.
  • Summer crisp – Initially summer crisp, or Batavia type lettuces look tons like looseleaf varieties. But as they mature, they form beautifully rounded heads. There are many heat-tolerant varieties compatible.

Growing a lettuce garden

Lettuce may be a cool weather crop and is best grown in spring and fall. The seeds germinate in temperatures as low as 40 F (4 C) but its ideal germination and growing temperature is between 60 and 65 F (16 to 18 C).

To grow great lettuce, find a site that gives a minimum of six to eight hours of direct sun. it’s possible to grow lettuce in partial shade (three to four hours of sun), but in low light i might suggest planting looseleaf varieties which grow faster than heading types. Once you’ve picked your spot, prepare the bed for planting by digging in an in. or two of compost or aged manure. If you wish you’ll also dig during a slow release organic at this point .

Lettuce also makes an incredible container plant. It produces a shallow rootage and may be grown during this cool Vegtrug 8 pocket garden , window-boxes, pots, fabric planters, baskets, or any container that’s a minimum of four to 6 inches deep and has drainage holes.

To get a jump start on the lettuce harvest, I cover my early spring garden beds with fabric or plastic covered mini tunnels. These capture solar power and protect from cool temperatures and frost.

How to plant lettuce seeds

There are two ways to plant lettuce seeds:

  • Direct sow seeds within the garden or containers.
  • Transplant lettuce seedlings that were started indoors under grow lights or purchased from a garden centre.

Direct sowing lettuce seeds

When direct seeding heading sorts of lettuce in rows, space the seeds two inches apart with rows twelve to eighteen inches apart, counting on the variability . Don’t sow the seeds too deeply as they have light to germinate. Cover them with a skinny layer of soil. Once the seedlings are growing well, thin to 10 to 12 inches.

For a crop of baby lettuce, i prefer to sow the seeds in bands. you’ll make narrow bands that are just three to four inches across or wider bands to suit your space. I often sow twelve to eighteen inch wide bands of baby lettuces in my raised beds, trying to space the seeds about two inches apart. you’ll grow one variety this manner or buy a packet of gourmet mixed lettuces.

Transplanting lettuce

When transplanting lettuce into my garden beds or containers, I typically plant during a grid pattern, spacing each seedling about ten inches apart. this is often where you’ll have a touch of fun if you’re growing multicolored varieties like Salanova Home & Garden Mix. you’ll stagger the colours to make a checkerboard pattern.

If transplanting in rows, space seedlings ten to 12 inches apart and rows twelve to eighteen inches apart, counting on the mature size of the variability . Check your seed packet for specific spacing instructions.

How to plant romaine lettuce

Romaine lettuce is one of the foremost popular sorts of lettuce and is extremely easy to grow. you’ll grow it as a baby crop and harvest the young leaves for weeks otherwise you can allow the plants to mature to full-sized heads. For the best-tasting romaine lettuce give the plants consistent moisture, many sunlight, and funky temperatures.

Because my garden may be a slug haven, I find it helpful to start out seeds for romaine lettuce indoors and move the seedlings bent my raised beds every week or two before the last expected spring frost. For full sized heads of romaine lettuce, space them ten inches apart.

Succession planting lettuce

Wondering the way to plant lettuce in order that you’ll have a really long season of harvest? the key is succession planting! Succession planting is just planting seeds at different times. i prefer to plant small amounts of lettuce seed at anybody time in order that we’ve enough for our family, but not such a lot that I can’t continue with the harvest.

The successive crops come from the extra lettuce seeds I sow every two to 3 weeks from mid-spring to early summer. Seeding lettuce over the course of spring or autumn leads to a non-stop crop of top quality greens.

How far apart to plant lettuce

Once your lettuce seedlings are growing well, you’ll thin them to permit enough room that they mature into good-sized heads. You’ll find specific variety spacing listed on the seed packet, but generally, a spacing of ten to 12 inches is best.

For heads of baby lettuce, you’ll space the plants a touch closer, at six to eight inches. this system works well for romaine lettuce which then forms compact heads just six to eight inches tall.

How to grow a lettuce plant

Now that you simply skills to plant lettuce, it’s time to find out a couple of key growing techniques. The key to a top-quality crop of tender, mild-tasting lettuce is consistent moisture. If lettuce plants are heat or drought-stressed, the leaves turn bitter and therefore the plants will bolt. Bolting is when the plants switch from leaf production to flower production and a scape emerges. Read more about bolting here.

sleep in a northern climate where spring often takes a couple of steps backwards and temperatures dip below freezing. Keep row covers handy to guard from frost or unexpected cold temperatures. they will be placed directly over the lettuce plants or floated above on hoops. you’ll also buy handy fleece tunnels online or at garden centres.

If your spring weather turns from consider hot quicker than expected, keep lengths of shade cloth handy in order that you’ll create a shady spot. It’s easy to form hoops from half inch PVC conduit, metal wire, or other materials. Lay a bit of 40% shadecloth on top of the hoops, securing it with clips. Shadecloth reduces the warmth and lightweight around your lettuce plants and may delay bolting by every week or two.

If you’ve worked organic matter and a slow-release organic into the soil before planting, there’s no got to further fertilize your fast-growing lettuce plants.

Lettuce pests

In my garden, the most important threats to my lettuce plants are deer and slugs. To affect deer, inspect this excellent article by Jessica. She also wrote this detailed article on slugs. I find diatomite effective on slugs. Reapply after rain. you’ll also use net or willow cloches to stay animals like deer or rabbits far away from the lettuce. Or, erect a mini hoop tunnel over your bed and canopy with bird netting, net, or an insect barrier fabric.

Aphids are another garden lettuce pest. Aphids are tiny, soft bodied insects that suck the juices from the leaves, causing curling or distortion. Because lettuce grows so quickly, a modest infestation isn’t usually an enormous problem. I just give the leaves a fast wash before we make a salad. If there are tons of aphids on your lettuce plants, you’ll spray with an organic soapy water spray to kill the insects and their eggs. this might require a couple of applications.

How to harvest lettuce plants

Once you’ve got a pleasant crop of lettuce coming along in your garden, how does one know when it’s time to harvest? There are several ways to enjoy your lettuce:

  • Harvest as a baby green by picking individual young leaves or harvesting the whole immature plant.
  • Selectively harvest outer leaves from looseleaf or heading varieties because the plants grow.
  • Harvest the whole head by slicing it off about an in. above the soil.

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