Growing Lettuce

Lettuce can be grown outdoors from early April onwards, once the soil has begun to warm up.

To get a succession of salad leaves all summer long, you need to sow seeds at regular intervals of two to three weeks.

Sow in rows, and once the seedlings are up, thin them out so that there’s 20cm to 30cm (8in to 12in) between each seedling – check the packet for details. There are many different types of lettuce, so you can try a whole range and plant half or whole rows. If you are sowing more than one row, space them 45cm (18in) apart.

TIP: To aid good pollination, grow sweet peas nearby to attract bees.

Information

Other names

Lactuca sativa

Appearance/taste

• Hearting
  Wavy outer leaves with a crisp dense centre of leaves with excellent flavour
• Loose Leaf
  Highly decorative curled or frilly-leaved leaf shapes with some beautiful red varieties that have a slightly bitter taste

Popular varieties

Hearting (types include Butterhead, Iceberg & Cos) or loose leaf (types include Lollo); both varieties have a range of colour and tastes

Interesting fact

Romans and Ancient Egyptians first used lettuce as a way to help them sleep at the end of meal times

Nutritional value

A very good source of dietary fibre, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, calcium, magnesium, iron and potassium

When to grow

Seed outdoors between mid spring to late summer or late summer to early autumn; avoid mornings where weather can be too hot

Likes

Full sun in moisture retentive and fertile soil; protecting from cold with cloches or fleece; plenty of watering; fertiliser feed if growing is slow

Dislikes

Cold – particularly with early or late sowing of seed; pests – slugs, snails, chafer grubs and aphids

Harvest time

Summer time if grown from mid spring to late summer; autumn time if grown from late summer to early autumn

Watch out for

• Pests
  Control biologically with treatment that can be watered onto the growing area
• Grey-Mould
  In cold and damp summers where any affected material should be removed and space between plants increased “bolting” or premature growth which leads to bitter tasting leaves and occurs in hot dry weather so ensure regular watering.
• Cooking tips
  Cold and raw in a salad with a vinegarette dressing for extra taste; part of a relish for barbecue food.