VEGETABLES > LETTUCE
IN THIS GUIDE
LETTUCE GUIDES
HarvestingSowing
Whether you favour the base salad – the most traditional way to eat scratch – or opt something a niggling jazzy like a grilled sugar leaf , it ’s almost guarantee that you ’re at least familiar with this ubiquitous vegetable .
manoeuver to any supermarket and you ’ll see the usual suspects : Iceberg , leafage , cos , and so on .
But this family has many , many more members to get acquainted with .
For the intrepid gardener looking to amplify their growing repertoire , lettuce is an intriguing avenue to explore .
“ I also dead do it growing rationalize - and - come - again lettuce , ” shares Kate Cotterill , Garden Designer and Co - Director of She Grows Veg .
“ We do n’t corrupt lettuce from March forwards and that have a monumental difference and saves us a lot of money throughout the class .
“ Being capable to pop out and cut it and then wait for it to grow back again is just fantastic . ”
With a selection of exciting varieties , a tenacious grow time of year , and a much lower cost per head when you grow your own , there are plentifulness of reasons to incorporate this veg into your plans .
Overview
PreferredFull Sun / Light Shade
ExposureSheltered
Height0.1 – 0.5 M
Spread0.1 – 0.5 M
PreferredMost Fertile Soil Types
MoistureMoist but well enfeeble
pHAny
This plant , with the Latin nameLactuca sativa , is actually a member of the daisy family.1Asteraceae – The Daisy Family . ( n.d . ) . Wildlife Journal Junior . Retrieved March 21 , 2023 , fromhttps://nhpbs.org/wild/asteracae.asp
It ’s been part of human agriculture for a long fourth dimension , with recorded growth dating back to the Ancient Egyptians.2Jerkins , M. ( 2021 , January 4).Lettuce and king : The Power Struggle Between Horus and Set . Michigan Quarterly Review . Retrieved March 21 , 2023 , fromhttps://sites.lsa.umich.edu/mqr/2015/05/lettuce-and-kings-the-power-struggle-between-horus-and-set-2/
Since then it ’s been commonplace across Europe , with new types cropping up throughout the hundred as people developed varieties .
When thin , lettuce stanch transude a white liquid , now known as latex , which Romans incorporate into the name.4Kantor , S. ( 2015 , April 6).Study charge the way of life toward producing safe from lolly . Washington State University Insider . Retrieved March 21 , 2023 , fromhttps://news.wsu.edu/press-release/2025-03-25/study-points-the-way-toward-producing-rubber-from-lettuce/
Lettuce has now open across the globe , making a pop and delightful addition to myriad national cuisines .
How To Grow Lettuce
You ’ll be pleased to know that simoleons is easy to grow and , providing you ’re diligent with your maintenance , you could expect a bumper harvest time .
Many gardeners choose to grow multiple sort of kale simultaneously to give them an array of flavours and colours to use in their cooking .
“ This year I ’m growing 6 unlike varieties in all unlike people of colour , ” says Kate .
“ They await so beautiful and taste much overnice than anything you could get in the supermarket . ”
After all , any salad can only be improved by making employment of multiple types of leaf .
In this surgical incision we ’ll cover every aspect of growing lettuce , from sow through to reap .
With a sowing time of year that lead from March to September , you ’ve flummox the option to plant multiple Wave of sugar .
This assure a steady supply throughout the year , let you plunge in and out as you involve rather than having to make role of thousands of boodle leave-taking at once .
If you go for this option , which we do commend , make trusted to protect seedling early and late in the time of year .
These periods will be cooler than late spring and summertime , and cold temperatures can damage lettuce crop .
utilize a cloche if develop out of doors , or look at growing in a polytunnel , glasshouse , or interchangeable .
Here ’s a piffling crack-up of when you ’ll be able-bodied to reap based on unlike sow times :
As you may see , it ’s possible to develop lettuce to harvest for most of the year .
Just pay attending to the needs of each miscellany , and to making sure they ’re go along tender enough .
This enforce with raging temperatures , too . For summer planting , verify to shade seedlings and keep them hydrated with cold body of water .
Lettuce plants do best in full sun , and prefer grunge that can retain wet .
sour a few centimetres of compost or manure through the dirt before plant out your lettuces , ideally in the autumn before you plan to sow if you ’ve left yourself enough fourth dimension .
This will give the thing a chance to break down and release its nutrients into the soil .
Lettuce will also grow in grow bag or containers , just take concern to weewee more often .
“ I tend to produce lettuce in my nursery to avoid slugs as far as possible as I do n’t apply slug pellet , ” share Master Horticulturist Colin Skelly .
“ This mean I grow in containers rather than in the soil .
“ When blank is limited or where growing in containers .there are smaller cultivars available such as ‘ Tom Thumb ’ . ”
“ Lettuce can also be grow on a windowsill and , if it ’s a cut - and - come - again variety , you’re able to keep harvesting from it every day , ” Kate adds .
When the grime drive dry , water your lettuce .
This is best done early in the dawn to give the water a prospect to be absorbed or evaporate away , except in very raging spells as cite antecedently .
In hot spells , pee in the eve .
Lettuce is a busy crop , growing chop-chop and pee way for raw plants to be grown in the same soil during the same season .
With this in idea , it cook sense that they need to be fertilised oftentimes .
you could feed lettuce fortnightly with a 5 - 5 - 5 fertilizer , or any fertilizer where the three numbers ( cite to nitrogen , phosphate , and potassium percentages ) are close to equal .
merely dilute the motley to half - strength and utilise to the works in accordance with the instructions on the mail boat .
Lettuce does n’t last long , unfortunately , even in the near condition .
Once picked , aim to eat your wampum as promptly as possible – ideally in the first few mean solar day .
This will ensure the crunchiest grain , fullest relish , and least amount of unsightly browning of the leaf .
If you do demand to store it , keep it coolheaded , preferably in your electric refrigerator ’s salad draftsman .
Common Issues
regrettably lettuce is prostrate to pull in quite the array of pests and problems .
Here ’s what to count for and how to boil down the likeliness of interference .
These open-eyed birds like nothing more than to eat young boodle plant , and will cause quite a moment of equipment casualty if left to their devices .
A physical hindrance is your safe wager here : Something like chicken wire , garden fleece , or alike .
Make trusted their speculative nozzle ca n’t get through .
Simon and Garfunkel once sang that they ’d rather be a hedge sparrow than a escargot . grow lettuce , it ’s likely that you ’ll be finding both .
Lettuce is securely on the favoured - food list for these slimy visitor .
You ’ll most likely see guck trail as well as part of leaves that have been piece off .
Thankfully there are great deal of way to deter slugs and snails from call in .
you may make a beer trap to lure them in , erect barriers of eggshells , or use one of many pesticides .
These critter also relish inflict and banquet upon lolly .
Though small than type slug and snails , they ’re still visible to the raw eye .
Keep a lookout for modest greenish bugs or their lilliputian snowy testicle , and polish off by hand if you see them .
Then look to see whether they return : If not , you ’re in luck .
If so , you ’ll need to regain a pesticide to discourage repeat visits .
If condition are n’t quite right , bread is prone to thunderbolt .
This means it puts out seed early , and is no longer dear for eating .
Common causes of wampum bolt include sowing at the untimely time , and let your soil dry out out .
bolt is a response to unfavourable experimental condition and is a survival mechanics by which the flora tries to put out come to ensure on-going selection , even if the single plant ca n’t survive .
“ Once you take off growing dough , you ’ll never go back , ” says Kate .
No longer will you drop money on shekels , only to use a few leaves and see the rest wilt and twist brown , forlorn and forgotten in the bottom of your fridge .
No – now , you ’ll have fresh , green leaves whenever you require .
