Lettuce grows best in the cool weather of spring and fall. Time lettuce seed sowing so plants come to harvest before very warm and hot weather, Hot weather will trigger bolting and seed-stalk formation. Bolting can be slowed by picking the oldest leaves first but it can’t be stopped. Lettuce that bolts will be bitter…
Lettuce
How to Harvest and Store Lettuce
Harvest all types of lettuce almost any time during growth. • Harvest loose-headed leaf lettuce when the leaves are large enough to use—just 2 to 3 inches (5-7 cm) long. • Harvest Bibb and Butterhead types of lettuce—with large ruffly outer leaves surrounding a soft, folded heart—when the leaves begin to cup inward to form…
Lettuce Bolting
Lettuce—a cool season crop—naturally bolts in warm weather. When temperatures rise much above 70°F/21°C, lettuce—an annual—will send up stalks, flower, and set seed, nature’s way of ensuring a next generation. This process is called bolting. When lettuce and other leafy crops bolt natural sugars depart the leaves for the flowers and seed. When lettuce bolts…
How to Grow a Salad Garden in 10 Steps
Salad greens are easy and quick to grow and rich in vitamins and minerals. Plant salad greens—leaf lettuce, arugula, mesclun, and radicchio are a few—for harvest in cool weather—spring or fall. In warm-winter regions, grow salad greens through the winter in open planting beds. In cold-winter regions, grow salad greens under the protection of plastic…
Tasty Tossed Green Salads with No Recipes
The difference between an average green salad and a great green salad is the choice of greens, the flavors you match with the greens, and the dressing. Start a green salad with two or three greens—choose varying flavors and textures. Next combine or toss the greens with flavor affinities—foods and seasonings that bring out the…
Lettuce Growing Tips
Lettuce grows best in cool weather and sunny locations. Spring, mid-summer, and early fall are the times of year to plant lettuce, but you can grow lettuce in the summer even in warm regions if you choose heat-tolerant and bolt-resistant varieties. There are lettuce cultivars that are ready for picking in 45 days and others…
Lettuce for Spring and Summer Heat Resistance
Lettuce is the most popular leafy vegetable. You can plant enough leaf lettuce for a family of four in a 1-sqaure foot area, enough head lettuce in a 2-square foot area. Plant spring lettuce between rows of larger crops such as cabbage or broccoli. Lettuce can be sown in the garden as early as four…
Lettuce Seed Starting
Lettuce is easily started in seed-starting trays or small pots. Lettuce started indoors can be set into the garden when plants have about four leaves, usually in three to four weeks from sowing. Set lettuce in the garden 12 inches (30cm) apart if you are planting for full heads and closer if you are going…
Lettuce Growing Problems: Troubleshooting
Most varieties of lettuce require cool weather or slight shading for best growth. Grow lettuce in the cool part of the year, when temperatures range in the 50s and 60sF. You can plant lettuce as soon as the ground can be worked in spring. Grow leafy varieties where the weather is warmer. Lettuce grows well…
How to Grow Lettuce
Lettuce is a cool-season crop. Most lettuce varieties must mature before the weather gets warm. There are bolt-resistant, heat-tolerant varieties for growing in warm weather. Sow lettuce seed indoors 4 to 6 weeks before the average last frost date in spring; transplant seedlings to the garden when they are about 4 inches tall. Direct sow…