5 min read
Produce recalls are nothing new, but if you’ve decided to skip the fresh green salads lately for fear of getting explosive diarrhea from Cyclospora, it might be time to finally learn how to grow your own lettuce at home.
“Most lettuce is extremely fast to grow and matures in 30 to 45 days,” says Diane Blazek, executive director of All-America Selections and the National Garden Bureau. “For baby greens, you can even harvest sooner in two to three weeks. Since lettuce has such a short number of days to maturity, it is easy to start from seed, also making it a low-cost option.”
Lettuce doesn’t take up a ton of space, so you can even grow it in containers on a tiny deck or balcony if you don’t have in-ground garden beds or raised beds. “Lettuces have a shallow root system so they don’t need a lot of space or depth to grow,” says Blazek. This cool-season crop, which prefers the milder weather of spring and fall, can be grown well into late autumn or even early winter, depending on where you live.
Of course, no matter where your greens come from, always wash your lettuce with water before consuming it. Even at home, you need to practice safe handling of produce.
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How to Grow Lettuce
Unlike warm weather crops such as tomatoes, which require full sun of 6 or more hours of direct sunlight, lettuce can tolerate some shade. Lettuce only needs 3 to 5 hours of sunlight to produce, so it is much more flexible on where it can be grown than other crops, says Blazek.
You also can extend your harvest by using the “cut-and-come again” method, which means you trim the outer leaves, leaving the crown, or center of the plant, to keep growing and producing. This means a package of seeds, which cost just a few dollars, will give you more for your minor investment.
How much lettuce should I plant?
It depends on how often you want to enjoy fresh greens. In general, to get 1 to 2 salads per week, plant 3 to 5 plants per person. To have 1 salad per day, plant 6 to 10 plants per person.
If you plant to harvest the entire head at once, succession plant seeds every 2 to 3 weeks to have consistently mature heads ready for harvest. For baby greens, sow more generously, says Blazek.
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How to sow lettuce seeds
Plant teeny lettuce seeds directly in garden beds or in any container such as a pot, window box, or hanging basket. In a container, use any basic potting mix (read the label; you need a potting mix, not a raised bed soil, which is not the same thing). Next, sprinkle the seeds over the surface, pressing them gently into the soil and covering with just a dusting of potting mix. You can plant them in a row or just spread them across the entire planting area.
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How to water lettuce seeds
Keep the soil lightly moist—not sopping wet— while the greens are trying to germinate and get established. If you allow the tiny seedlings to dry out, they will die. As the plants grow, keep them consistently and lightly moist. If it’s really hot and dry, they may need to be watered more frequently.
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When to Plant Lettuce for a Fall Garden
Lettuce is known as a cool-season crop that doesn’t like super-hot temperatures. Seed germination is best with temperatures from 60 to 80 degrees. If it’s too hot during the day and night, it may bolt, or go to seed, although many new types can tolerate short periods of daytime temperatures in the 80s if there’s adequate soil moisture. In general, you can plant from late summer to early winter, depending on your growing zone. In the Lower South, you can grow lettuce all winter with frost protection.
To get an idea of when to plant, look at your USDA hardiness zone. Next, find the number of days to maturity on the seed package and your area’s average first frost date.
Then back up the number of days from the first expected frost date, which will give you the ideal planting time in your area. For example, if you want baby greens that take 20 days, and your first frost date is October 30, then plant around October 1 to 10. If you wish to have fully mature lettuces that take 45 days to maturity, then plant around the middle of September, says Blazek.
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The Best Types of Lettuce to Grow
You can grow leaf lettuce, head lettuce (which takes a little longer to mature and requires more space), and other greens such as spinach, arugula, and kale. Here are a few types to try:
Bauer Lettuce. This versatile variety is an oakleaf lettuce that you can harvest at the baby leaf stage or grow into the rosette-shaped full-sized head. It’s an All-America Selection (AAS) winner, meaning the variety has been tested and trialed in real home gardens across the country. Rubybor Kale. This pretty, curly, bushy kale works well in smaller spaces and tolerates heat better than some varieties. AAS winner.Sandy Lettuce. This oakleaf type forms a loose head or can be harvested for baby greens in as little as 30 days. AAS winner. Prizm Kale. The stemless stalks of this curly variety re-leaf quickly, so you can have a steady supply for weeks and weeks. AAS winner. Red Sails Lettuce. This old favorite has beautiful bronze-y red leaves that are ready for harvest as soon as 30 days. AAS winner. Bloomsdale No. 5 Spinach. This is another heirloom favorite of gardeners for its long production time. It’s ready in 40 days. AAS winner.Mesclun. This isn’t a specific variety but is a mix of various types. It’s a good choice if you’re very short on space and want to grow a palette of various types of greens. It’s often ready in 20 to 30 days. Arugula. This peppery green has a robust flavor that adds zing to salads. Baby arugula is ready in 35 days or less. If the plants go to seed, you can also eat the flowers.
Arricca Elin SanSone is a writer, editor, and content creator who specializes in lifestyle and gardening. With a background in health reporting, she applies these same research skills when writing about the science of growing things. She trials new plants in her expansive garden, and her houseplant collection consists of 60+ varieties. Arricca has written thousands of articles for publications such as Country Living, House Beautiful, Good Housekeeping, Prevention, VERANDA, Southern Living, and more. She’s happiest when digging in the dirt, baking, or spending time with the people and dogs she loves.
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