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
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Hearting
Wavy outer leaves with a crisp dense centre of leaves with excellent flavour
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Loose Leaf
Highly decorative curled or frilly-leaved leaf shapes with some beautiful red varieties that have a slightly bitter taste
- Popular varieties
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Hearting (types include Butterhead, Iceberg & Cos) or loose leaf (types include Lollo); both varieties have a range of colour and tastes
- Interesting fact
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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
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- 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.
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