by RightFit Gardens |
Last Updated: March 5, 2021 If you are only going to plant one vegetable other than tomatoes, it should be lettuce. Growing lettuce is such an easy task, requires not a lot of space, and you can even grow lettuce near flowers.
The mild spring and fall weather allows lettuce to grow for many weeks. Leaf lettuce can be tucked in between and under taller crops and is ideal for containers as well. For more information on the different types of lettuce, please visit our online catalog.
How to Grow Lettuce
The leafy green lettuce is an excellent choice for in-ground gardens, raised garden beds, and containers in mild weather. Plant lettuce plants 6 to 18 inches apart (depending on varieties) and in well-drained, fertile soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. The native soil can be improved by mixing in several inches of aged compost or other rich organic matter.
To ensure tender lettuce leaves, keep the soil moist by watering whenever the top inch of soil becomes dry. Mulch your garden to prevent weeds and to extend the life of your watering efforts. Mulch is made from finely ground leaves or bark. Regularly feed your plants with water-soluble plant food to promote excellent leaf production. Once they are large enough to eat, harvest leaf lettuce, starting with the outer leaves.
Planting, Soil, and Care
Though varieties of lettuce grow fastest in full sunlight, it is one of the few vegetables that tolerate some partial shade. When summer comes, spring crops usually last longer when shaded from the afternoon sun. You can grow lots of lettuce in a small space, or even in a container. Combine it with taller plants, such as tomatoes in the spring, or combine a couple of different lettuce varieties for an edible bowl.
Provide crisphead lettuces with rich, organic matter-rich soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0, plus optimal moisture levels. If you want to check pH levels, then buy a test kit and get your soil tested. Fertilize and lime as needed. In the absence of soil testing, assume that the soil isn’t ideal. With the top few inches of your native soil, add amendments such as blood meal, cottonseed meal, composted manure, or manure. Put a premium quality potting mix in the containers when growing lettuce in pots for the roots to thrive. You’ll need to fertilize the lettuce with nitrogen throughout its growing season to get new, tender leaves quickly.
Based on how large you want your lettuce plants to grow, you can space lettuce closer together or farther apart. Salad plant spacing is influenced by the size of the plants. For the most compact lettuce plants, space at the prescribed distance.
Lettuce plants grow best in temperatures ranging from 45-80 degrees. For new plantings, start setting lettuce plants out about a month before the last frost. Hot weather results in bitter flavor; extremely cold temperatures freeze it. However, certain Bibb types, including Buttercrunch can withstand surprising amounts of frost if well-rooted. When spring lettuce is ready, plants should be planted about 4 to 8 weeks before the spring frost. In many areas of the country, lettuce can be grown through the winter with a cold frame or row cover.
The spacing between lettuce plants can not be exact, but Bonnie varieties tend to do best with spacing between 6 to 18 inches (depending on the type of lettuce, so check the tag). The maximum distance between plants should be sufficient for them to reach their full size. Although some gardeners plant lettuce farther apart, they prefer to maintain continuous harvest before the leaves reach full size. This way, the plants adapt to their spacing. During dry weather, water regularly for succulent leaves. Also, mulch to keep the soil cool and moist, and control weeds.
Common Pests
Aphids are one of the most common lettuce pests. They like the tender leaves and like to hide on the undersides and in the crowns of plants.
Harvest and Storage
The leaves on the outside of the plant can be harvested, leaving the central bud to produce more leaves, or the entire plant can be harvested for harvesting. Almost any leaf lettuce can be eaten, and the baby leaves can be picked to make a tender salad. At full size, Romaine lettuce makes an upright leafy clump; before harvest, it has a characteristic mid-rib. For the classic Bibb, harvest your leaves when they are at least six inches in diameter and cut them at the soil line. Bibb types such as Buttercrunch form a loose head; you can harvest it whenever when it reaches its full size.
It is the same with heading types of lettuce, but in warm climates where the head of lettuce doesn’t have a firm structure, you can harvest it like leaf lettuce, removing leaves as they grow large enough to eat.
Loose-leaf lettuce tastes the sweetest in cool weather, so it is popular as a fall crop. However, during warm weather, plants grow to lettuce seeds. Leaves are bitter when they begin to stretch (called bolting) and shoot out seed stalks. Harvest all lettuce immediately if this happens and store it in the refrigerator for a few days or until some of the bitterness goes away.
If you are only going to plant one vegetable other than tomatoes, it should be lettuce. Growing lettuce is such an easy task, requires not a lot of space, and you can even grow lettuce near flowers.
The mild spring and fall weather allows lettuce to grow for many weeks. Leaf lettuce can be tucked in between and under taller crops and is ideal for containers as well. For more information on the different types of lettuce, please visit our online catalog.
How to Grow Lettuce
The leafy green lettuce is an excellent choice for in-ground gardens, raised garden beds, and containers in mild weather. Plant lettuce plants 6 to 18 inches apart (depending on varieties) and in well-drained, fertile soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. The native soil can be improved by mixing in several inches of aged compost or other rich organic matter.
To ensure tender lettuce leaves, keep the soil moist by watering whenever the top inch of soil becomes dry. Mulch your garden to prevent weeds and to extend the life of your watering efforts. Mulch is made from finely ground leaves or bark. Regularly feed your plants with water-soluble plant food to promote excellent leaf production. Once they are large enough to eat, harvest leaf lettuce, starting with the outer leaves.
Planting, Soil, and Care
Though varieties of lettuce grow fastest in full sunlight, it is one of the few vegetables that tolerate some partial shade. When summer comes, spring crops usually last longer when shaded from the afternoon sun. You can grow lots of lettuce in a small space, or even in a container. Combine it with taller plants, such as tomatoes in the spring, or combine a couple of different lettuce varieties for an edible bowl.
Provide crisphead lettuces with rich, organic matter-rich soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0, plus optimal moisture levels. If you want to check pH levels, then buy a test kit and get your soil tested. Fertilize and lime as needed. In the absence of soil testing, assume that the soil isn’t ideal. With the top few inches of your native soil, add amendments such as blood meal, cottonseed meal, composted manure, or manure. Put a premium quality potting mix in the containers when growing lettuce in pots for the roots to thrive. You’ll need to fertilize the lettuce with nitrogen throughout its growing season to get new, tender leaves quickly.
Based on how large you want your lettuce plants to grow, you can space lettuce closer together or farther apart. Salad plant spacing is influenced by the size of the plants. For the most compact lettuce plants, space at the prescribed distance.
Lettuce plants grow best in temperatures ranging from 45-80 degrees. For new plantings, start setting lettuce plants out about a month before the last frost. Hot weather results in bitter flavor; extremely cold temperatures freeze it. However, certain Bibb types, including Buttercrunch can withstand surprising amounts of frost if well-rooted. When spring lettuce is ready, plants should be planted about 4 to 8 weeks before the spring frost. In many areas of the country, lettuce can be grown through the winter with a cold frame or row cover.
The spacing between lettuce plants can not be exact, but Bonnie varieties tend to do best with spacing between 6 to 18 inches (depending on the type of lettuce, so check the tag). The maximum distance between plants should be sufficient for them to reach their full size. Although some gardeners plant lettuce farther apart, they prefer to maintain continuous harvest before the leaves reach full size. This way, the plants adapt to their spacing. During dry weather, water regularly for succulent leaves. Also, mulch to keep the soil cool and moist, and control weeds.
Common Pests
Aphids are one of the most common lettuce pests. They like the tender leaves and like to hide on the undersides and in the crowns of plants.
Harvest and Storage
The leaves on the outside of the plant can be harvested, leaving the central bud to produce more leaves, or the entire plant can be harvested for harvesting. Almost any leaf lettuce can be eaten, and the baby leaves can be picked to make a tender salad. At full size, Romaine lettuce makes an upright leafy clump; before harvest, it has a characteristic mid-rib. For the classic Bibb, harvest your leaves when they are at least six inches in diameter and cut them at the soil line. Bibb types such as Buttercrunch form a loose head; you can harvest it whenever when it reaches its full size.
It is the same with heading types of lettuce, but in warm climates where the head of lettuce doesn’t have a firm structure, you can harvest it like leaf lettuce, removing leaves as they grow large enough to eat.
Loose-leaf lettuce tastes the sweetest in cool weather, so it is popular as a fall crop. However, during warm weather, plants grow to lettuce seeds. Leaves are bitter when they begin to stretch (called bolting) and shoot out seed stalks. Harvest all lettuce immediately if this happens and store it in the refrigerator for a few days or until some of the bitterness goes away.
