When can i plant lettuce outside
Lettuce Growing | General Planting & Growing Tips – Bonnie Plants
Read these expert tips on growing lettuce. Save money and grow your own salad greens in your vegetable garden. It is much more simple then you may think!
If you grow only one vegetable other than tomatoes, it should be lettuce. Growing lettuce is so easy, takes up little space, and you can even grow it among flowers. Lettuce grows for many weeks in the mild weather of spring and fall. Leaf lettuce is easy to tuck in between and under taller vegetables, and is perfect for containers. See our online catalog for more about the different types.
Quick Guide to Growing Lettuce
- Plant lettuce during the mild weather of early spring and fall. This nutritious, leafy green is a great option for in-ground gardening, raised garden beds, and containers.
- Space lettuce plants 6 to 18 inches apart (depending on the variety) in an area that gets an abundance of sun and has fertile, well-drained soil with a pH between 6.
0 and 7.0.
- Improve native soil by mixing in several inches of aged compost or other rich organic matter.
- Well-hydrated lettuce will bear tender leaves, so keep moisture levels consistent by watering whenever the top inch of soil becomes dry.
- Prevent weeds and make your watering efforts last longer by applying a thick layer of mulch made from finely ground leaves or bark.
- Promote excellent leaf production by regularly feeding with a water-soluble plant food.
- Harvest leaf lettuce starting with the outermost leaves once they are large enough to eat.
Soil, Planting, and Care
Although lettuce grows fastest in full sun, it is one of the few vegetables that tolerates some shade. In fact, a spring crop often lasts longer if shaded from the afternoon sun as the season warms. You can grow lots of lettuce in a small space, even a container. Mix it with other taller plants, such as tomatoes in the spring, or grow a mix of different varieties for a living salad bowl.
Give lettuce fertile, well-drained, moist soil with plenty of rich organic matter and a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. To check pH, test the soil with a purchased kit, or get a soil test through your regional Cooperative Extension office. Fertilize and lime according to test recommendations.
If you don't do a soil test, then assume that the soil isn't ideal. Add nitrogen-rich amendments such as blood meal, cottonseed meal, or composted manure, or simply mix in Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® All Purpose In-Ground Soil with the top few inches of your native soil. When growing lettuce in pots, give the roots their ideal growing environment by filling the containers with a premium quality potting mix such as Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® All Purpose Container Mix. Leaf lettuce needs nitrogen to grow tender, new leaves quickly, so fertilize throughout the growing season with Miracle-Gro® Performance Organics® Edibles Plant Nutrition Granules.
In the spring, begin setting out lettuce plants about a month before the last frost.
Lettuce grows best within a temperature range from 45 to about 80 degrees. Hot weather makes it bitter; extreme cold freezes it. When well rooted, some Bibb types such as Buttercrunch will tolerate a surprising amount of frost.
Plant fall lettuce beginning about 4 to 8 weeks before the first frost. If you use a cold frame or row cover, gardeners in many areas of the country can grow lettuce through the winter.
Lettuce spacing is not an exact science, but Bonnie varieties tend to do best with spacing between 6 and 18 inches (depending on type, so check the tag). Generally, you should space plants far enough apart so that they can grow to full size. However, many gardeners plant lettuce much closer together, preferring to harvest leaves continuously before they reach full size. The plants adapt to their spacing.
For the most tender, succulent leaves, water regularly during dry weather. Also, mulch to keep the soil cool and moist, and prevent weeds.
Troubleshooting
The most common lettuce pests are aphids.
They love the tender leaves and like to hide on the undersides and down in the crown of the plants.
Harvest and Storage
You can harvest leaf lettuce from the outside of the plant, leaving the central bud to grow more leaves, or you can cut the entire plant at the base. Leaf lettuce is ready to eat at just about any size, and you can pick the baby leaves for tender salads. Romaine lettuce forms its characteristic mid-rib before harvest; at full size it makes an upright leafy clump. Bibb types such as Buttercrunch form a loose head; you can harvest anytime, but for the classic Bibb rosette, wait until the lettuce is nearly full size (6 to 8 inches in diameter) and cut it at the soil line.
The same is true for heading iceberg types; however, in warm climates where head lettuce doesn't make a firm head, you can harvest it like a leaf lettuce, removing leaves as they get large enough to eat.
Lettuce tastes sweetest in cool weather, which is why it is such a great fall crop.
As the weather warms, plants will go to seed. By the time they begin to stretch and send out a seed stalk (called bolting), the leaves are bitter. When this starts to happen, harvest all your lettuce immediately and try storing it in the refrigerator, where some of the bitterness may disappear.
FAQs
Is leaf-type lettuce easier to grow than the head-type?
Yes. Leaf lettuce generally matures fast, which makes it ideal for home garden production. Most leaf-type lettuce varieties will mature in seven to eight weeks, but can really be harvested anytime you see leaves big enough to eat. Just take off the outer leaves and let the inner leaves stay to get bigger.
Head lettuce varieties take a little longer and are more sensitive to warm weather.
The tips of my lettuce leaves are turning brown, but the base looks healthy. What is the problem?
Browning, or scorching around the margins of leaves is often caused by too little water. During dry weather be sure to water and keep the soil mulched. If the plants are getting enough water, perhaps the roots have been injured from too much fertilizer, nematodes, or too close cultivation. A lack of potassium and calcium can also cause the margins to scorch.
My lettuce plants have grown tall and flowered. What should I do?
It's time to pull your lettuce up. The flowering stalks form at the end of the spring growing season when the days are longer and warmer.
My lettuce tastes bitter. Is it the variety?
No, all lettuce gets bitter during hot weather and when the flower stalks begin to form. You can store the leaves in the refrigerator for a day or two to see if some of the bitterness will disappear.
Some gardeners like the slightly bitter taste to add punch to a salad.
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A Guide to Growing & Harvesting Lettuce
Are you ready to learn how to plant lettuce? This popular salad green is one of the easiest crops to grow in garden beds and containers and is ideal for spring and autumn harvesting. Plus, it’s a speedy crop with baby greens ready to pick around a month from seeding and full heads in two months or less.
In our family, we eat a lot of salads and if you’re buying lettuce at the supermarket, the cost quickly adds up.
Growing your own lettuce is an easy way to save on grocery bills and enjoy months of homegrown organic greens.
Types of lettuce
There are many types of lettuce you can plant. I’m a big fan of leaf lettuce because it grows so quickly and you can harvest from each plant for weeks, but there are a lot of varieties available in seed catalogs and on seed racks:
- Looseleaf – Looseleaf lettuce is among the easiest to grow. It’s also super speedy, forming large loose heads in just five to six weeks.
- Oakleaf – I grow oakleaf lettuces as a leaf lettuce, harvesting often from the plants as they grow. If left to mature, they will eventually form full-sized heads. The leaves are lobed like oak leaves, and can be green or red, depending on the variety.
- Romaine – An essential ingredient in Caesar salad, romaine lettuce plants form tight, upright heads of crisp leaves.
- Butterhead – Butterhead lettuce, also known as Boston or Bibb, forms lovely loose heads of tender crisp leaves. There are heat tolerant varieties of butterhead that can be grown in summer, as well as cold tolerant varieties for winter harvesting.
- Iceberg – Iceberg, or crisphead lettuce has a reputation for being hard to grow but I’ve had no problem growing it in my raised beds.
- Summer crisp – Initially summer crisp, or Batavia type lettuces look a lot like looseleaf varieties. But as they mature, they form beautiful rounded heads. There are many heat-tolerant varieties well suited to summer growing.
Growing a lettuce garden
Lettuce is a cool weather crop and is best grown in spring and fall. The seeds germinate in temperatures as low as 40 F (4 C) but its ideal germination and growing temperature is between 60 and 65 F (16 to 18 C).
To grow great lettuce, find a site that offers at least six to eight hours of direct sun. It is possible to grow lettuce in partial shade (three to four hours of sun), but in low light I would suggest planting looseleaf varieties which grow faster than heading types. Once you’ve picked your spot, prepare the bed for planting by digging in an inch or two of compost or aged manure. If you like, you can also dig in a slow release organic fertilizer at this time.
Lettuce also makes a fantastic container plant. It produces a shallow root system and can be grown in this cool Vegtrug 8 pocket herb garden, window-boxes, pots, fabric planters, baskets, or any container that is at least four to six inches deep and has drainage holes.
To get a jump start on the lettuce harvest, I cover my early spring garden beds with fabric or plastic covered mini tunnels. These capture solar energy and protect from cool temperatures and frost.
Lettuce is shallow rooted and can be grown in containers just four to six inches deep.
How to plant lettuce seeds
There are two ways to plant lettuce seeds:
- Direct sow seeds in the garden or containers.
- Transplant lettuce seedlings that were started indoors under grow lights or purchased from a garden centre.
Direct sowing lettuce seeds
When direct seeding heading types of lettuce in rows, space the seeds two inches apart with rows twelve to eighteen inches apart, depending on the variety. Don’t sow the seeds too deeply as they need light to germinate. Cover them with a thin layer of soil. Once the seedlings are growing well, thin to ten to twelve inches.
For a crop of baby lettuce, I like to sow the seeds in bands. You can make narrow bands that are just three to four inches across or wider bands to fit your space. I often sow twelve to eighteen inch wide bands of baby lettuces in my raised beds, trying to space the seeds about two inches apart. You can grow a single variety this way or buy a packet of gourmet mixed lettuces.
Transplanting lettuce
When transplanting lettuce into my garden beds or containers, I typically plant in a grid pattern, spacing each seedling about ten inches apart. This is where you can have a bit of fun if you’re growing multicolored varieties like Salanova Home & Garden Mix. You can stagger the colors to create a checkerboard pattern.
If transplanting in rows, space seedlings ten to twelve inches apart and rows twelve to eighteen inches apart, depending on the mature size of the variety. Check your seed packet for specific spacing instructions.
How to plant romaine lettuce
Romaine lettuce is one of the most popular types of lettuce and is very easy to grow. You can grow it as a baby crop and harvest the young leaves for weeks or you can allow the plants to mature to full-sized heads. For the best-tasting romaine lettuce give the plants consistent moisture, plenty of sunlight and cool temperatures.
Because my garden is a slug haven, I find it helpful to start seeds for romaine lettuce indoors and move the seedlings out to my raised beds a week or two before the last expected spring frost. For full sized heads of romaine lettuce, space them ten inches apart.
I often use wire mini hoops covered in fabric or plastic to protect my lettuce from frost, bad weather or pests.Succession planting lettuce
Wondering how to plant lettuce so that you can have a very long season of harvest? The secret is succession planting! Succession planting is simply planting seeds at different times. I like to plant small amounts of lettuce seed at any one time so that we have enough for our family, but not so much that I can’t keep up with the harvest.
The successive crops come from the additional lettuce seeds I sow every two to three weeks from mid-spring to early summer. Seeding lettuce over the course of spring or autumn results in a non-stop crop of high quality greens.
How far apart to plant lettuce
Once your lettuce seedlings are growing well, you can thin them to allow enough room that they mature into good-sized heads.
You’ll find specific variety spacing listed on the seed packet, but generally a spacing of ten to twelve inches is best.
For heads of baby lettuce, you can space the plants a bit closer, at six to eight inches. This technique works well for romaine lettuce which then forms compact heads just six to eight inches tall.
When transplanting lettuce seedlings into my garden beds, I like to space them ten inches apart for full-sized heads. If I’m growing a band of baby greens, I’ll sow the seeds just a few inches apart.How to grow a lettuce plant
Now that you know how to plant lettuce, it’s time to learn a few key growing techniques. The key to a high quality crop of tender, mild-tasting lettuce is consistent moisture. If lettuce plants are heat or drought stressed, the leaves turn bitter and the plants will bolt. Bolting is when the plants switch from leaf production to flower production and a flower stalk emerges. Read more about bolting here.
I live in a northern climate where spring often takes a few steps backwards and temperatures dip below freezing.
Keep row covers handy to protect from frost or unexpected cold temperatures. They can be placed directly over the lettuce plants or floated above on hoops. You can also buy handy fleece tunnels online or at garden centres.
If your spring weather turns from warm to hot quicker than expected, keep lengths of shade cloth handy so that you can create a shady spot. It’s easy to make hoops from half inch PVC conduit, metal wire, or other materials. Lay a piece of 40% shadecloth on top of the hoops, securing it with clips. Shadecloth reduces the heat and light around your lettuce plants and can delay bolting by a week or two.
If you’ve worked organic matter and a slow-release organic fertilizer into the soil before planting, there’s no need to further fertilize your fast-growing lettuce plants.
When the spring weather turns warm, I often erect a shade cloth tunnel overtop my lettuce bed. This cools and shades the plants, delaying bolting.Lettuce pests
In my garden, the biggest threats to my lettuce plants are deer and slugs.
To deal with deer, check out this excellent article by Jessica. She also wrote this detailed article on slugs. I find diatomaceous earth effective on slugs. Reapply after rain. You can also use chicken wire or willow cloches to keep animals like deer or rabbits away from lettuce. Or, erect a mini hoop tunnel over your bed and cover with bird netting, chicken wire, or an insect barrier fabric.
Aphids are another common lettuce pest. Aphids are tiny, soft bodied insects that suck the juices from the leaves, causing curling or distortion. Because lettuce grows so quickly, a modest infestation isn’t usually a big problem. I just give the leaves a quick wash before we make a salad. If there are a lot of aphids on your lettuce plants, you can spray with an organic soapy water spray to kill the insects and their eggs. This may require a few applications.
How to harvest lettuce plants
Once you’ve got a nice crop of lettuce coming along in your garden, how do you know when it’s time to harvest? There are several ways to enjoy your lettuce:
- Harvest as a baby green by picking individual young leaves or harvesting the entire immature plant.
- Selectively harvest outer leaves from looseleaf or heading varieties as the plants grow.
- Harvest the entire head by slicing it off about an inch above the soil.
For more information on growing greens, be sure to check out these awesome articles:
- How to start a new vegetable garden FAST!
- Grow your own salad garden
- Growing greens in a lettuce table
- 8 salad greens to grow that aren’t lettuce
- Red lettuce varieties to grow
Do you have any more questions about how to plant lettuce?
How to grow leaf lettuce on a windowsill and garden bed
May 13 Likbez Tips
Follow the instructions and you will no longer have to buy greens in stores.
Where you can grow lettuce
Leaf lettuce thrives in garden beds. In open ground, you can plant both seeds and seedlings grown at home or bought in a store.
If you don't have a dacha or your own plot near the house, lettuce will perfectly fit in a container on the windowsill. You can grow greens from seeds or try rooting a bunch in a pot from the vegetable section.
How to grow lettuce from seed outdoors
The easiest option is to plant leaf lettuce seeds directly in the ground. So you do not have to mess with seedlings, and the result will be no worse, although a little later. It will be possible to harvest in 25-35 days.
It is better to choose a sunny place, without shading. Well, if last year legumes, tomatoes, cucumbers or potatoes grew there. Thanks to crop rotation - the so-called alternation of plants - the risk of damage by pests and diseases will decrease, the harvest will be better. But sowing lettuce in the same bed for two years in a row is not worth it.
When to plant lettuce outdoors
Early varieties can be planted as early as April-May, while mid-season and late varieties can be planted from April to mid-June.
When planting early, the main thing is to wait until the ground warms up enough and warm weather sets in without frost.
Lettuce can be re-sown periodically, removing old plants by the roots. So you can get a crop all summer.
How to grow lettuce outdoors
Dig up the soil 1-2 days before you sow the seeds. Make parallel grooves about a centimeter deep or slightly less at a distance of 15-20 cm from each other.
Sow the seeds at about 5 cm intervals, lightly cover with soil and water. If it is cool outside, the beds can be covered with a film until shoots appear.
When the greenery shows through, it can be thinned out if the planting is too dense.
Too dense plantings can be thinned out to give the plants enough room to grow and develop / Photo: tanitost / ShutterstockHow to care for lettuce
Weeding, watering and loosening are the main points in care. On hot spring and summer days, you need to moisten the beds with lettuce every 1-2 days.
In cloudy, rainy and cool weather, the intervals can be increased. The main thing is not to let the soil dry out completely. It is better to water in the morning or in the evening, and not during the most sunny hours. Moreover, it is desirable to use a watering can so that moisture gets on the leaves of the plant. After watering, gently loosen the topsoil.
Feeding and special fertilizers can be dispensed with during growth. It is enough to bring mullein or bird droppings into the ground in the fall, and start planting in the spring. Don't worry if you don't have time to prepare in advance. In fertile and not depleted soil, lettuce will feel good anyway.
Remove weeds as soon as they appear so that they do not interfere with the normal growth and development of plants.
How to grow lettuce from seedlings outdoors
Growing lettuce seedlings makes sense if you want to get the first harvest as soon as possible. Small plants planted in open ground will grow leaves quite quickly, and it will be possible to start collecting them in one and a half to two weeks.
When to plant lettuce seedlings
The best time to plant seedlings is March or early April. If you missed the deadline, do not worry: you can buy young plants for planting in the ground even at the beginning of summer.
How to grow lettuce seedlings
It is better to plant lettuce seedlings in peat pots or separate cups - one seed in each. So it will be easier for you to move the plant to a permanent place without damaging it.
Planting lettuce seeds in separate cassettes or pots makes it easier to transplant them without damaging the roots / Photo: Alexander Raths / ShutterstockIf you want to plant lettuce in a common box or container, make grooves in the soil 1 cm deep and at a distance of about 5 cm from each other. Sow the seeds at a distance of about 10 cm. A denser planting will have to be thinned out over time.
Cover the sown seeds with a thin layer of soil and moisten with a spray bottle. Cover with foil and leave for a few days until shoots appear.
Do not forget to remove the film every day and air it for at least half an hour, and when the sprouts are visible, remove the cover.
Soil suitable for universal or special seedlings. Feeds are not needed.
When to transplant lettuce outdoors
After about 3 weeks or less, when the plants are strong enough, they can be planted in a greenhouse or outdoors. At the same time, you need to wait until the earth warms up enough, and the threat of frost recedes.
How to care for lettuce
Caring for lettuce planted outdoors as seedlings is no different from caring for lettuce sown directly in the beds. Depending on the weather, plants should be watered from a watering can in the morning or evening every 1-2 days or less. Also, do not forget to loosen the soil and remove weeds.
How to grow lettuce from seeds on a windowsill
Leaf lettuce is a great option for an apartment garden. It is very easy to take care of, and you can harvest the first harvest in about 25 days.
It is worth paying attention to early-ripening varieties that feel fine in low light.
No special conditions are needed, although some points are better to take into account. Ideally, if the windows face east or west and are not too shaded by trees. It will be too hot on southern plants, and there will be little light on northern plants.
In autumn and winter, when daylight hours are short, special lamps will have to be used. Without them, the plants will be frail and will not please with abundant greenery.
In late spring, summer and warm autumn, lettuce will feel great on a balcony or loggia / Photo: Ashley‑Belle Burns / ShutterstockRoom temperature is fine. But keep in mind that with constant strong heat, the lettuce will quickly release arrows and begin to bloom, and the leaves will be bitter.
For planting, you can take ordinary pots or larger containers, always with drainage holes and trays. The soil is suitable for store, universal or special for vegetable crops.
In addition to it, drainage is needed. It can be expanded clay, broken bricks, small shards of raw clay pots, pebbles, gravel and even foam.
When to plant lettuce on the windowsill
There are no strict time limits when growing indoors. Seeds can be sown at any time of the year.
How to plant lettuce seeds
Place a layer of drainage on the bottom of the container. Spread the soil on top, retreating from the edge of about 0.5 cm. Slightly moisten the ground with a spray bottle, but do not create a swamp.
Sow the seeds not too thick and cover with a layer of soil no thicker than 5 mm. If you do not want to thin out crops, place the seeds in the ground at a distance of at least 5 cm.
Cover the container with film or glass and leave in a warm, shady place.
How to care for lettuce on the windowsill
Air the plantings every day for at least half an hour before germination to prevent mold.
After 4-5 days, when the first shoots emerge from the soil, remove the film or glass.
Rearrange the container with plants on the windowsill or loggia. After a week, thin out your plantings so that the distance between plants is approximately 1.5–2 cm. When 2–3 true leaves appear, repeat the procedure again. This time, leave a distance of about 5 cm. You can plant the plants that you have to pull out in a separate bowl.
Rotate the container of lettuce every few days. So it will develop evenly and will not turn out to be one-sided due to the fact that one side will be constantly in the sun, and the other will not.
Don't forget to water. It is needed on average every other day, although it all depends on the conditions. For example, in a warm room or on the southern windowsills on hot days, the earth will dry faster. Therefore, do not leave the salad unattended. At first, while the plants are very small and fragile, it is advisable to combine watering with spraying. Although after, especially in rooms with dry air, this procedure will benefit. In any case, it is better to use water at room temperature or a little warmer, always separated.
Top dressing is not needed if you immediately take high-quality store soil.
How to grow lettuce from a grocery store on a windowsill
The vegetable department often sells lettuce in pots. Due to the fact that plants have a root system, they stay fresh longer and store better. And after cutting the greenery, the plants can be planted and re-harvested from them.
Another crop can be harvested from store-bought lettuce in a pot / Photo: ArtSvetlana / ShutterstockWhen to plant a lettuce in a pot
You can give a plant a second life at any time of the year, the main thing is to create the right conditions.
How to plant lettuce in a pot
Cut off all lettuce leaves 1-2 cm from the ground. Carefully separate the pot. It is quite thin and fragile, so it can be cut with a sharp knife or scissors.
Place the roots in a bowl of settled water at room temperature.
When the new leaves are 4-5 cm long, plant the lettuce in a pot or container with an all purpose store soil.
How to care for lettuce in a pot
No problem. Just water the salad about every other day and spray frequently. No need to feed. This is enough to harvest another new crop.
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- How to feed seedlings to make them stronger
- Windowsill garden: how to grow vegetables, herbs and even strawberries at home
- How to grow microgreens at home
- How to grow a petunia to enjoy lush blooms all summer
- How to grow green onions on the windowsill
When and how to plant leaf lettuce in the ground, greenhouse and seedlings in 2023, the best varieties and care for lettuce, pests and diseases
Parsley, dill, sorrel and other fresh herbs are rich minerals, vitamins and various substances useful for the human body. There are a lot of trace elements, vitamins C and A, folic acid and especially iron in lettuce leaves. In addition, the use of this green improves digestion, so it is used as a dietary product.
Today, almost everyone grows lettuce in their backyards and dachas. This cold-resistant, unpretentious plant can be planted in beds from early spring to mid-summer to have fresh greens all the time. How to plant lettuce and care for it, we will tell in our article.
Description and best varieties of lettuce
Since the plant has many species, its appearance is difficult to describe. On a herbaceous plant, basal leaves first develop, and then a flowering stem, the height of which can be 60-120 cm. Large lettuce leaves can be smooth and corrugated, curly and wrinkled, whole or cut.
Only fresh leaves are suitable for food, which contain a large amount of minerals and vitamins. As soon as the stem begins to grow, they develop a bitter taste.
The lettuce plant has four varieties, each of which is represented by many varieties.
Leaf lettuce
Only the leaves of this plant species are eaten, which can have different colors and shapes.
Popular varieties of lettuce:
- Sandwich - an early maturing variety with wavy light green leaves suitable for salads and sandwiches.
- Lollo Rosso - a plant with a rosette of wavy burgundy leaves has a pleasant taste and will decorate the site. The variety is mid-season.
- Zabava is a mid-season variety characterized by large bright red leaves and resistance to stemming and disease.
- Dubachek - a plant with light green oblong wavy leaves has the peculiarity of growing new leaves instead of cut ones. The variety is mid-season.
- Ballet - lettuce is suitable for growing not only in the summer on the site, but also in winter and spring at home and in greenhouses, as it is resistant to lack of light. Its dark green fan-shaped leaves look very beautiful, as they have a scalloped edge.
- Riviera - the leaves of this mid-season variety look like oak leaves. The plant is resistant to flowering, good yield and excellent taste.
Semi-headed lettuce
The leaves of this species are collected in open heads.
The best varieties:
- Kucheryavets Gribovsky is a mid-early variety with juicy, tasty and crisp bright green leaves, the edges of which are slightly corrugated. The plant is disease resistant.
- Boston - a plant with light green leaves wavy along the edge is a loose semi-head. This variety is popular for its excellent taste and high yield.
- Berlin yellow - the variety is distinguished by yellowish leaves and a round rosette weighing up to 200 grams. A plant of average term of maturing.
- Eurydice - The dark green and crispy leaves of this lettuce taste great. The compact semi-head has a semi-raised socket. The variety is mid-season.
Head lettuce
Cabbage-like plant with very crunchy leaves. The best varieties:
- Four seasons - a variety with excellent taste is also interesting for the color of the leaves, which are yellow-green inside and have a bronze-red tint on the outside. You can grow it in greenhouses and on beds in open ground.
The variety is mid-season. - Gingerbread man - the plant is a round even head of cabbage, consisting of bluish-green leaves. The variety has a high yield and excellent taste. From germination to maturity - 90 days.
- Great Lakes - a variety with a round large head of cabbage and crisp oak-shaped dark green leaves. The plant is resistant to burns and flowering. The variety is late.
- Adamant - only 50 days this variety will need to ripen. It has slightly bumpy dark green leaves with a nutty flavor. The plant is resistant to bolting and has a weight of about 350 grams.
When to plant lettuce in seedlings and in the ground in 2023
Lettuce seeds can be sown immediately in open ground, and for greenery in early spring, plants are grown through seedlings or in greenhouses.
According to the Lunar calendar in 2023, favorable days for sowing lettuce seeds are:
- in January: 1, 2, 6, 24, 25, 28, 29;
- in February: 2, 3, 21, 24, 25, 26;
- in March, the best days are 1, 2, 3, 24, 25, 28, 29, 30;
- in April: 21, 22, 25, 26, 27 best days, can sow 5, from 7 to 11, 12, 13, 16, 17;
- in May: 2, 3, 4, 22, 23, 24, 30, 31 or 7, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 17, 18;
- in June: 1, 2, 3, 19, 20, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30.
Unfavorable days for sowing and planting:
- January: 7, 21, 22, 23;
- February: 5, 18, 19, 20;
- March: 7, 18, 19, 21;
- April: 6, 14, 15, 20;
- May: 5, 11, 12, 19;
- Jun: 4, 7, 8, 9, 18.
Cultivation of lettuce from seeds
Cultivation of seedlings of lettuce
Crops for seedlings begin one month before planting in open ground. You can sow seeds at home in seedling containers, or you can grow seedlings in a greenhouse or greenhouse:
- Soil mixture for sowing seeds can be used ready-made or mixed independently from humus earth, peat and sand (2:1:1).
- Seeds are disinfected for three hours in a pink solution of potassium permanganate before sowing.
- Seedling boxes, cups or cassette cells are filled with moist soil, in which grooves are made 1 cm deep. The distance between the grooves should be about 5 cm, and between the seeds - about 10 cm.
You can sow the seeds more often, then the seedlings will have to dive. - Sprinkle crops with a small layer of soil, water abundantly (preferably with a spray bottle) and cover with polyethylene on top.
- Seedling containers are placed in a warm and bright place. Before the emergence of seedlings, the shelter is removed daily to ventilate the soil. The dried topsoil is moistened from the sprayer.
If the planting material is of good quality, shoots may appear already on the third or fourth day. So that they do not begin to stretch, the seedlings are removed to a well-lit place with a temperature of +15 .. + 18 degrees.
If the seeds have been planted frequently, when the second true leaf appears on the seedlings, a pick is made. Bushes with 3-4 true leaves are ready for planting in open ground. A week before planting in the garden, seedlings begin to harden off.
Lettuce seedlings are planted in open ground in warm weather (night frosts down to -2 degrees are allowed).
Bushes are planted according to the scheme:
- large plants - 35x35 cm;
- early ripe compact varieties - 25x25 cm.
Seedlings planted in the ground are sprinkled with soil so that the root neck is at ground level. Planted plants are well watered.
Growing lettuce in a greenhouse
Since lettuce seeds can germinate at a temperature of +5 degrees, it can be planted and grown in a greenhouse even in winter, provided that the room is heated. However, in the future, the plant needs a temperature of about +20 degrees for growth and development. Therefore, lettuce seeds can be planted in an unheated greenhouse from mid-March to the end of April (depending on the region).
It is recommended to prepare the soil in a greenhouse for growing lettuce in autumn:
- Add 15 grams of potassium chloride and 40 grams of superphosphate for each square meter.
- Dig the soil together with fertilizers.
- If the soil is acidic, it is recommended to add slaked lime or dolomite flour (the rates depend on the degree of soil acidity).
Also, the level of acidity will help to even out rotted manure.
In spring, the bed should be loosened, leveled and furrowed at a distance of 10 cm from each other.
Seeds are planted to a depth of 1-2 cm, covered with soil and watered. Since freezing temperatures are not uncommon in early spring, it is recommended to sprinkle the bed with mulch in the form of fine humus.
When the seedlings sprout and grow a little, they are thinned out so that the distance between the specimens is from 15-20 cm. . Fertilize twice during the growing season. The last top dressing should be done no later than a month before harvest. As a fertilizer, use a solution of 10 liters of water and ammonium nitrate with potassium chloride (half a teaspoon of each drug).
When to plant lettuce outdoors in spring with seeds
From mid-April, you can start sowing lettuce outdoors. However, it all depends on the climate of the region. It is necessary to focus on the weather, as night frosts should not fall below -2 degrees.
Therefore, in Siberia and colder regions, lettuce in open ground begins to be sown in May.
Planting can be done every two weeks so that healthy greens can be eaten until late autumn. Mid-season and late varieties are sown until mid-June. Varieties with a short growing season can be planted until mid-August. At the same time, you should know that at +20 degrees lettuce seeds germinate worse than at lower temperatures.
Rules for planting lettuce in the ground with seeds
Choose sunny areas with nutritious soil for cultivation. It can be loam, black earth and even sand, but not heavy clay soil. The acidity of the soil should be no more than 7 pH.
The lettuce bed is dug up in the fall, and one bucket of rotted manure or compost is added for each square meter. Two weeks before planting in the spring, the site is loosened and fertilized. For 1 sq. meter needed:
- Mortar - 1 tbsp. l or Nitrophoska, if the soil is acidic;
- potassium sulfate - 1 tsp;
- superphosphate - 1 tbsp.
l.
Dolomite flour must be added to acidic soil.
Sowing lettuce seeds in open ground is carried out according to the same scheme as in the greenhouse. When shoots appear en masse, they begin thinning, which is carried out in two stages. As a result, the following distance should be obtained between plants:
- between leaf varieties - 7-8 cm;
- between half and head - 10-15 cm.
Attention! When choosing a site for planting lettuce, it is important to know that its best predecessors are cucumbers and zucchini, potatoes and cabbage. On one bed, lettuce is best planted with onions, as this culture repels aphids. Also good neighbors are spinach and peas, radish and cabbage, tomato and strawberry, radish. The next year after the salad, it is best to plant tomatoes and peppers.
Outdoor lettuce care
Lettuce care includes the following procedures:
- Watering. Lettuce at an early stage of development is watered once a week.
When heads begin to form, watering is reduced, otherwise parts of the plant may begin to rot. However, the frequency of watering depends on how often it rains. Headed varieties are watered so that water does not fall on the leaves. - Weeding and loosening. Weed grass is removed from the beds as needed, and it is recommended to loosen the soil between rows after each watering.
- Salad dressing. Leaf varieties growing in nutrient soil do not need fertilizers. In poor soil, it is necessary to apply complex mineral fertilizers, which include magnesium and potassium, calcium, phosphorus and nitrogen. Headed varieties are fed with bird droppings diluted in water (20:1) or mullein (10:1). Solutions are used after watering. And do not forget that a month before the harvest, feeding is stopped.
Lettuce pests
Slugs and aphids, cruciferous flea beetles and wireworms are the most common pests of the tender plant. Since chemicals are absorbed into the leaves, they cannot be used, so it is recommended to use folk remedies:
- Leaf holes indicate that the plant is eating cruciferous fleabane .
Good preventive measures are weeding and regular watering (the flea does not like moisture). Planting a number of marigolds, calendula, tomatoes, garlic will scare away the pest. - Lettuce aphid feeds on plant sap, the leaves of which begin to darken and curl. This insect will scare away the onions planted nearby. You can get rid of a white-winged insect with the help of an infusion of young potato tops, dandelion leaves or onion husks.
- Slugs eat the lower leaves, which result in large holes. Traps are made for these pests: disposable cups are dug in the garden, into which a little syrup, juice or beer is poured. The best remedy for slugs is beer, which is fatal to them. However, pests are very fond of this drink, so if the traps are placed in the evening, in the morning you will see many dead slugs in them.
- Wireworm feeds on plant roots. There are many popular ways to destroy these pests, which we wrote about in our article: How to get rid of wireworms in the garden.
Diseases of lettuce
Under unfavorable conditions, non-compliance with crop rotation and agricultural technology, lettuce is affected by diseases, among which the following are the most dangerous for plants: In part of the plant, the infection penetrates through leaves touching the ground.
