How To Grow Delicious Lettuce

To grow lettuce requires little space. Lettuce is a very versatile plant with many varieties. Many people ask how to grow lettuce but it’s easy once you know the soil and water requirements. You can grow lettuce indoors and you can grow lettuce in hot temperatures. This post helps you to grow the best lettuce.

When to Grow Lettuce

Grow Lettuce in cool weather. It is best to grow lettuce in spring and fall. Or, use a cold frame in the winter to extend the season. In addition, you can bring plants indoors when it gets too hot outside. The seeds germinate in temperatures as low as 40 F (4 C). Its ideal germination and growing temperature is between 60 and 65 F (16 to 18 C). 

The Best Soil to Grow Lettuce

It is best to grow lettuce in loose, cool soil with good drainage. The addition of organic materials, such as compost or manure, will increase drainage. Organic material provides and improves lettuce growing conditions. Lettuce is sensitive to low pH. The addition of lime can help bring the pH to at least 6.0 to 6.8 but do not get the soil too hot with lime.

Grow Lettuce From Direct Seed

Direct Seedinng

Lettice has fragile roots and is a delicate plant altogether. The seeds are papery filaments that are hard to handle. My grandmother would always lick her finger, push it into the packet of lettuce seeds, it would come out covered with lettuce seeds. She would flick these onto the soil, more or less, into a row

Transplanting Lettuce

To grow lettuce, you can directly sow seeds into soil at least 60F. Or seeds can be started indoors, in warmer soil at 70F for a fast germination of 2-10 days. Seeds usually stay viable for 5 years. Soil should be evenly moist before germination and moist until they are transplanted. Continue to sow lettuce every two weeks so you have a continual supply through the season.

Grow Lettuce in Pots Indoors

If you plant lettuce in pots and add an irrigation system to cool the roots, you can have a salad every day throughout the season. You can even bring the pots indoors in winter, and if there is a sunny window available, have lettuce year round.

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How To Plant And Care For Your Lettuce

Seeds should be planted 1/4-1/2″ deep with 4″ between seeds. Leafe lettuce should be thinned to 6-9″ apart when they have 4 leaves or 10-12″ for head lettuce. Lettuce likes to grow in full sun unless it is intolerably hot where it should have partial shade. Not enough sun gives lettuce a long leggy appearance. The best growing temperature for lettuce is 45-65F. To keep the soil cool for the roots, consider installing drip irrigation. This link will take you to my post on installing a system.

Fertilize with a high nitrogen fertilizer like organic alfalfa meal. Or use a slow release fertilizer to grow abundant lettuce.

Companion Plant for Lettuce

Many types of vegetables are great as companion plants to lettuce. Some of the top picks are:

• Beets
• Carrots
• Strawberries
• Radishes
• Onions or chives between lettuce controls aphids.
• Corn
• Cucumbers
• Eggplant
• Peas
• Spinach

To grow lettuce effectively, you should not put them near any type of cabbage. They do not get along.

Diseases and Pests of Lettuce

Diseases of lettuce are fungal in nature. To grow lettuce abundantly, you should make sure you do not splash the leaves when watering. This is why a drip irrigation system is the best. It gets water consistently to the shallow roots of the plant without causing fungal issues.

Snails can also be a problem but are easily solved by surrounding the area with diatomaceous earth or a thin trail of salt way back from the lettuce bed.

Harvesting Lettuce

Harvesting lettuce is as easy as snipping and eating. You should cut older leaves first and keep them cut regularly. This prevents the lettuce from bolting which is when the lettuce produces seeds. At this point, the lettuce becomes bitter and is not good to eat. To grow great lettuce, cut it early and often.

A Great Lettuce Recipe

Bon Apetit magazine (or online) has 38 recipes for lettuce in their post: Lettuce show you how great lettuce can be with these 38 lettuce recipes.

Conclusion

To grow lettuce is the first plant I tried as a kid. I love the crisp feel of the leaves in a sandwich and even put lettuce leaves in my PB&J. Yes, peanut butter with lettuce. It’s yummy. Let me know if you have planted lettuce in your garden. Did you grow a head or just leaf lettuce? I’d love to hear from you! Click on the button to go to the comment form page.