Lettuce grows best possible throughout the cool local weather of spring and fall.
Time lettuce seed sowing so vegetation come to harvest previous to very hot and scorching local weather, Sizzling local weather will motive bolting and seed-stalk formation. Bolting may also be slowed by way of deciding on the oldest leaves first then again it’ll smartly’t be stopped. Lettuce that bolts it will likely be bitter flavored, so it is best to harvest lettuce previous to the weather gets too warmth.
There are many types of lettuce to choose from: butterhead or Bibb is free textured with a free head; looseleaf has a free, rosette of leaves; romaine or Cos has an elongated, erect head; crisphead or iceberg has a forged, tightly folded head.
Lettuce matures in 40 to 80 days depending on the sort planted: looseleaf in 40 days, butterhead in 40 to 70 days, and romaine and iceberg in 80 days.
Lettuce Sowing and Planting Guidelines
- Lettuce is grown from seeds or transplants.
- Seed is viable for 5 years.
- Get began lettuce indoors 4 weeks previous to transplanting; sow or transplant lettuce into the garden as briefly for the reason that soil may also be worked.
- Seed germinates in 2 to 10 days at or with reference to 70°F (21°C)—then again each and every so incessantly seed can take up to 2 weeks to germinate if the soil is cold.
- Keep the soil calmly rainy until seeds germinate then keep the soil rainy until seedlings are well established.
- Sow seed ¼ to ½ inch (6-13mm) deep.
- Sow seeds 4 inches (10cm) apart; later thin seedlings in keeping with sort: leaf, 6-9 inches (15-23 cm) apart; head, 10-12 inches (25-30 cm) apart. Be certain that there is good air motion spherical maturing vegetation to avoid sickness.
- For intensive planting, area vegetation 10 inches (25 cm) apart in a staggered pattern.
- Lettuce grows best possible in entire sun then again can tolerate mild shade.
- The optimal emerging air temperature for lettuce is 40°-75°F (4-24°C).
- Lettuce prefers a soil pH between 6.0 and 6.8.
- Add aged compost to planting beds prematurely of sowing; compost will feed the soil and aide moisture retention.
- Steer clear of planting lettuce where radicchio, endive, escarole, or artichokes have now not too way back grown.
- Make successive sowings each few weeks for an extended harvest.
- Fertilize with an herbal fertilizer very similar to fish emulsion at phase power.
- Aphids, flea beetle, cutworms, earwigs, leaf miners, snails, and slugs can attack lettuce.
Interplanting: Interplant lettuce with beets, carrots, cucumbers, onions, radishes, and strawberries.
Container Emerging: A single head of lettuce does well in a 6-inch (15 cm) pot; in upper boxes plant on 10 inches (25 cm) amenities.
Lettuce Planting Calendar
For Spring Harvest:
- 10-8 weeks previous to the overall frost in spring: direct-sow in a plastic tunnel or cold frame.
- 6-4 weeks previous to the overall frost in spring: direct sow throughout the garden
- Each and every 3 weeks sow succession crops for stable harvest; scorching local weather will reason bolting.
For Fall Harvest:
- 8-6 weeks previous to the principle frost in fall: direct-sow or transplant seedlings into the garden.
- 6-4 weeks previous to the principle frost in fall: sow or transplant in a plastic tunnel or cold frame for fall and winter harvest.
Lettuce In reality helpful Types
- Butterhead sort: ‘Bibb’, ‘Buttercrunch’, ‘Migonette’, ‘Boston’, ‘Four Seasons’, ‘Tom Thumb’.
- Leaf varieties: ‘Black-Seeded Simpson’. ‘Lolla Rossa’, ‘Black Oak’, ‘Red Sails’, ‘Salad Bowl’, ‘Ruby’.
- Romaine sort: ‘Little Gem’, ‘Parris Island’, ‘Rogue d’Hiver’.
- Iceberg sort: ‘Great Lakes’, ‘Nevada’, ‘Sierra.’
Botanical Name: Latuca sativa
Lettuce belongs to the Compositae (Asteraceae) or sunflower family.
Further lettuce emerging tips: How you can Expand Lettuce.
