Growing Lettuce In The Garden – How To Grow Lettuce Plants

Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is one of the most popular and easiest leafy vegetables to grow in the home garden. Prized for its crisp texture and refreshing flavor, lettuce is commonly used fresh in salads, sandwiches, wraps and as garnishes. Because it grows quickly and requires very little space, it’s a great crop for beginners and experienced gardeners alike. With many different types available—including looseleaf, romaine, butterhead, and crisphead—gardeners can enjoy a steady harvest of tender leaves throughout the cool seasons.

Believed to have originated in the Mediterranean region and parts of western Asia, lettuce has been cultivated for thousands of years. Ancient Egyptians were among the first to grow lettuce, and the crop gradually spread through Europe before becoming widely grown around the world. Today it is a staple vegetable in both home gardens and commercial production, and is valued for its versatility, mild flavor, and nutritional benefits.

Lettuce is generally considered a very easy crop to grow, maturing quickly, often in as little as 30 to 60 days depending on the variety. Lettuce can be grown in USDA zones 3 through 10 during the cooler parts of the year and is well suited for garden beds, raised beds, or containers. In addition to being a great choice for anyone starting a vegetable garden or indoor garden, the various types of lettuce provide a fresh and near-constant supply of vitamin-rich leafy greens.

Quick Lettuce Facts

What is Lettuce?

Lettuce is a worldwide favorite leafy green both for its ease of growing and its capabilities in the kitchen. Use its crisp-textured and mild-flavored leaves raw in salads, sandwiches and wraps. Some types of lettuce even cook up really well on a grill!

Types of Lettuce

A key to lettuce’s popularity is it different types and forms. There’s a leaf texture, color, crispness and flavor profile for any one and most any application. Lettuce is often categorized by types of head formation or leaf type.

Some of the different lettuce types include:

• Crisphead lettuce, more commonly known as iceberg, has a tight head of crisp leaves. It’s one of the more common lettuces available, but it's also one of the more difficult lettuces to grow. Popular varieties include Iceberg, Ithaca and Salinas.
• The Butterhead type is one of the more delicate lettuce varieties, with creamy to light green leaves inside the head and loose, soft, and ruffled green leaves on the exterior. Easier to grow than Crispheads, Butterheads are more tolerant of environmental conditions. Popular varieties include Buttercrunch, Bibb and Tom Thumb.
• Romaine or Cos types are typically tall and upright (8-10 inches/20.5-25.5 cm.) with spoon-shaped, tightly folded leaves and thick ribs. Its outer leaves can sometimes be tough while the interior foliage is tender with wonderful crunch and sweetness. ‘Romaine' comes from the word Roman while ‘Cos' is derived from the Greek island of Kos. Some different varieties include Valmaine, Winter Density and Yugoslavian Red.
• Looseleaf types, also known as Leaf, Cutting or Bunching lettuces, are some of the easiest types to grow as they are slow to bolt and are more heat resistant than the other types. This category offers a wide range of colors and shapes, including Red lettuce, Emerald Oak and Sanguine Ameliore.
• Summer Crisp or Batavian types can be categorized somewhere between Crisphead and Looseleaf, with thick and crisp outer leaves which can be harvested as a looseleaf until the head forms, while the heart is sweet, juicy, and a bit nutty. A few of the more popular varieties include Nevada and Summertime.

Where does Mesclun fit in with these lettuce categories? Great question. Mesclun isn’t itself a type of lettuce, but is a mix of different types of young salad greens—some of which aren’t even technically lettuces. For instance, a typical Mesclun mix will include young non-lettuce salad greens such as Endive, Frisee, Escarole and Radicchio in addition to colorful leaf lettuces.

Planting Lettuce

For how easy it is to grow lettuce in the garden, on the patio or even on the windowsill, there’s little reason to rely on purchasing heads from your local supermarket. Whether grown from seeds or baby plants, lettuce is a satisfying crop you can plant multiple times each year. You may never be without homegrown lettuce!

When to Plant Lettuce

The lettuce growing season begins in early spring and extends through fall for northern U.S. climates. In warmer areas, such as southern Florida, lettuce can also be grown outdoors throughout the winter. Increasing daylight hours and hot temperatures stimulates lettuce to bolt, which makes growing lettuce more challenging during the summer months.

As a cool-season crop, lettuce can be direct-seeded into the garden as soon as the soil can be worked in the spring. If the ground is still frozen, wait until it thaws. Lettuce can also be started or grown indoors. Try succession planting and growing varieties of lettuce with differing maturity times to harvest lettuce plants throughout the growing season.

Best Soil for Lettuce

The best soil for lettuce is loose, nutrient-rich, and well-drained with a pH of 6.0 to 7.0. Garden soil mixed with high amounts of organic matter, such as composted manure or homemade compost, is ideal to retain moisture while ensuring good drainage. Soil should be fluffy and light to accommodate the plant's shallow root system. If you have heavy clay soils, amend with compost to lighten the soil. While the soil does need to drain, it must also hold moisture to prevent bitterness and bolting.

Light Requirements

Lettuce needs up to 6–8 hours of direct sun daily for optimal growth, though it can tolerate partial afternoon shade (4–6 hours) in hotter climates to prevent bolting. This shade will also slow soil and plant evaporation, which in turn helps prevent the soil and plant itself from becoming dehydrated.

How to Plant Step by Step

Perhaps the most important step in planting lettuce is to select a lettuce type and variety that is suited to both your growing season and your preferences. For example, Looseleaf lettuces mature quickly and allow for continuous harvesting, while Romaine, Butterhead and Crisphead types form tighter heads and may take longer to mature. You may choose to try several different varieties for the joy of finding which you favor most.

Burpee.com has a wide—and colorful!—selection of seeds in all the different lettuce categories.

• Choose the right time. Lettuce is a cool-season crop that grows best in temperatures between 45–70°F (7–21°C). Plant seeds outdoors 2–4 weeks before the last spring frost, or again in late summer for a fall harvest. In warmer regions, lettuce can be grown through winter.
• Select a planting site. Choose a site that gets plenty (6-8 hours) of sun. Keep in mind the summer heat will take its toll on your lettuce, so a location that provides some afternoon sun might be more agreeable. This shade might come from a tree or even by tall garden plants such as tomatoes or corn.
• Prepare the soil. Lettuce prefers loose, fertile, well-drained soil rich in organic matter. Work compost into the top 6–8 inches (15–20 cm) of soil before planting. Aim for a soil pH between 6.0 and 7.0.
• Sowing or planting. Due to its small seed size, it's better to sprinkle lettuce seed on top of fine soil, then cover lightly with a thin layer of soil. A small hand held seeder or seed tape can also be used for proper spacing of plants. Avoid planting too deeply, as lettuce requires sunlight to germinate. To avoid dislodging newly planted seed, water by gently misting the area with a fine spray until the soil is moist.
• Transplanting. When planting baby plants into the garden, dig a hole about twice as big as the lettuce plants’ roots, add in a bit of compost or leaf litter, and insert the rootball to the same depth as the plant was in its original growing container.  

Lettuce Care

It doesn’t take much effort to have a constant supply of a variety of lettuces. It’s an easy crop to grow, but consistency in care goes a long way in keeping it so. Pay attention to water and weeds, give them plenty of room to grow, add some plant food now and again, and this crop will keep you in salads for the foreseeable future.

How Much Water Does Lettuce Need?

Lettuce needs consistent moisture to produce tender, flavorful leaves, otherwise its leaves may become bitter. Because the plants have shallow roots, the soil should remain evenly moist but not waterlogged. Aim to provide about 1 inch (2.5 cm) of water per week, either from rainfall or irrigation. Water at the base of the plants in the morning to reduce disease risk. You can conserve soil moisture by sidedressing with a compost or mulch.

Does Lettuce Need Thinning?

Crowded plants compete for nutrients, water, and light, which can lead to smaller, weaker growth and increase the risk of disease. This happens to lettuce seedlings, too. Remove or thin lettuce seedlings once they reach about 2–3 inches (5–7.5 cm) tall and have developed a few true leaves. Depending on the variety, final spacing should be 6–12 inches (15–30 cm) apart. Proper thinning allows enough space for each plant to grow healthy roots and full heads or leaves. Your lettuce seed packet should provide spacing details.

Lettuce Fertilizing

Lettuce grows quickly and benefits from nutrient-rich soil. Ideally you would work compost or well-rotted organic matter into the top 6–8 inches (15–20 cm) of soil prior to planting in order to provide initial nutrition. Lettuce does require high levels to nitrogen to produce its leave, which can be provided by a light feeding of a balanced liquid fertilizer or fish emulsion every 2–3 weeks. A granular fertilizer may burn leaves, and if using, apply it in a ring around the plant about 6 inches (15 cm) from its base. Fertilize according to package directions. Excessive nitrogen can encourage overly soft growth and reduce leaf quality.

Mulching Lettuce

Mulch can help conserve water and keep weeds down. Lettuce plants benefit from a 1–2 (2.5-5 cm) inch layer of an organic material such as straw, shredded leaves, or grass clippings around the base of the plants to serve as mulch. Keep the mulch an inch or two away from the stems to prevent rot and stem damage.

Pruning

Lettuce does not need pruning. Just let the leaves develop in an ever-widening pattern, whether it forms a head or a loose association of leafs. The occasional outer leaf will become yellow, and in that case removing the leaf is beneficial to the growth of the plant.

Harvesting Lettuce

We have explained that lettuce grows in three forms: As heads like the Crisphead, Butterhead and elongated Romaine or Cos; as looseleaf types such as the Leaf, Cutting or Bunching lettuces; and as a combination of the two in the Summer Crisp or Batavian types.

The head lettuces and looseleaf lettuces can be harvested in two different ways.

Head Lettuce

Harvesting heads of lettuce is done by cutting them away from the stalk when the head is still firm. Use a sharp knife and simply make a clean cut below the head through the stem. The outer leaves may be removed if needed. Morning is the best time for the harvest as heads will be at their freshest. When to harvest your heads depends on a few factors, including season and temperatures when planting, the variety and weather during its growth. Most heads are ready 65-100 days after sowing seeds.

Looseleaf Lettuce

Picking looseleaf lettuce with the “cut and come again” method extends your harvest window. And it is just as it sounds—picking or removing leaves from the lettuce plant. You can begin harvesting leaves anytime the leaves have formed but prior to the formation of a seed stalk. Simply snip a few outer leaves and cut them with shears or scissors an inch (2.5 cm.) above the crown of the plant. This allows the inner leaves to continue growing. Once you’ve harvested a few leaves from one plant, make your next harvest from other plants and allow the previous one to produce new leaves. Harvesting a few plants from a few different plants each time will provide a continual source of new and fresh lettuce.

Additional tips for harvesting lettuce include:

• For crisper lettuce, harvest in the morning.
• Romaine (cos) types of lettuce can be harvested by removing tender outer leaves or waiting until a head is formed. When removing the head, cut the plant above the base to encourage regrowth or remove the entire plant if regrowth is not desired.

Cleaning Lettuce

Cleaning lettuce is simple and can be done in several ways. Some gardeners rinse the head under running water, removing and gently rubbing each leaf to remove dirt. Others prefer to cut off the head, separate the leaves, and swish them in a bowl of cold water so dirt and sand settle to the bottom. A salad spinner such as the OXO Salad Spinner from Target can also be used by soaking the leaves, draining dirty water, and spinning them dry. After washing, shake off excess water and dry the leaves with paper towels or in the spinner. Some people add a little sugar to soaking water to help keep lettuce crisp, or a small amount of salt to reduce bacteria. Avoid using bleach when cleaning lettuce.

Storing Lettuce

How you store lettuce is just as important as cleaning it, and you have several options. Place individual lettuce leaves on paper towels and roll them up prior to placing them in resealable Ziploc bags or simply place them directly in the plastic bag instead. Carefully squeeze out any air before sealing the bag and placing it in the refrigerator. Always make sure that lettuce is dry prior to storing in the refrigerator. When storing, keep lettuce away from fruit, which gives off ethylene gas.

Lettuce will typically store this way with no ill effects for six to eight days. Keep in mind, however, that some types of lettuce, such as Romaine and Iceberg, are generally better if eaten right away.

Propagating Lettuce

Lettuce is most typically propagated from seed, which germinates quickly in cool soil. Sow seeds directly in the garden or started them under lights indoors and transplant once seedlings develop a few true leaves.

To direct sow outdoors, plant seeds about ¼ inch (6 mm) deep in loose, moist soil and keep the area evenly watered until germination, which usually occurs within 7–10 days.

Lettuce can also be regrown from a harvested head placed in water. This technique, which is a fun science project to do with children, simply involves placing the lettuce’s stem end in shallow water and observing what happens. While this method may produce small new leaves, it generally won’t form a full head, so seed propagation remains the most reliable method for growing lettuce.

Frost Protection

Lettuce is a cool-season crop and can tolerate light frost, but extra protection against helps prevent leaf damage and extends the harvest. When frost is expected, cover plants with row covers, frost cloth or even lightweight sheets in the evening to trap heat and protect tender leaves. Low tunnels or cold frames also work well for shielding lettuce during colder periods. Remove covers during the day if temperatures rise to prevent overheating. Junkogo’s Plant Freeze Protection Cover found on Amazon can be used directly overtop your lettuce plants or can be used in conjunction with low tunnels.

If you live in a frost-prone region, consider planting Romaine or Butterhead lettuce varieties, as those tend to be the most cold-tolerant.

Lettuce Problems

Lettuce is generally easy to grow, but several pests and diseases can cause problems in the garden. Do not let the following list deter you from starting a seasons-long harvest of a multitude of different lettuces:

Pests

Two of the most common pests for lettuce are slugs and snails, which feeds on tender leaves and leaves ragged holes behind.

Aphids can also appear on lettuce, clustering on the undersides of leaves and sucking plant juices, which may cause curling or distorted growth.

Flea beetles can leave small “buckshot” sized holes in leaves, which can destroy young lettuce plants entirely.

Leafminer larvae are so small that they can live between the top and bottom layers of the lettuce leaf, chewing tunnels as they crawl and grow. These tunnels appear as thin, translucent lines and destroy the leaves.

These and other lettuce pests can be controlled by using row covers, hand-picking pests, and encouraging beneficial insects.

Diseases

Fungal diseases in lettuce are another concern, particularly in cool, damp conditions.

Downy mildew and white leaf spot can cause yellow or brown patches on leaves and may spread quickly when plants are crowded or air circulation is poor.

Root rot can occur in overly wet soil, weakening plants and slowing growth.

Lettuce mosaic virus results from infected seeds and exhibit as stunted, underdeveloped heads, leaf puckering and deeply serrated leaf margins.

Signs of sclerotinia, or leaf drop, are leaf wilting, brown spots of decay and the eventual collapse of the entire plant.

Big vein virus shows itself as leaves with abnormally large leaf veining, and leaves are often mottled and ruffled.

Carefully managing moisture, cleaning and disinfecting garden tools and removing old, damaged or potentially infected leaves goes a long way in maintaining the health of your lettuce crop.

Other Common Problems

Other issues include bolting, which happens when lettuce is exposed to heat or long daylight hours; tipburn, which are brown areas caused by insufficient calcium uptake; improper or a complete lack of head formation; and a bitter taste, which occurs for multiple reasons.

Growing Lettuce in Containers

Growing lettuce in containers is a great option for gardeners with limited space, such as those with patios, balconies or small yards. Containers also allow gardeners to move plants indoors during light frosts and back outside during mild weather, helping extend the growing season.

Choose a container that is at least 6–12 inches (15–30 cm) deep with good drainage holes to prevent soggy roots. Lettuce has shallow roots, so it does not require very deep pots, but it does need enough space for several plants if grown together. Use a high-quality potting mix containing compost, peat or coco coir, and materials like perlite or vermiculite to help retain moisture while allowing excess water to drain away.

Lettuce can be grown from seed or transplants. Seeds are usually sown about ½ inch (1.5 cm) deep, while transplants should be spaced 6–12 inches (15–30 cm) apart depending on the variety. Consistent watering is especially important because container soil dries out faster than garden soil.

Loose-leaf varieties are often best for containers because they allow “cut-and-come-again” harvesting—picking outer leaves while the plant continues producing new growth.

Growing Lettuce Indoors

Growing lettuce indoors is an easy way to enjoy fresh greens year-round, even if you don’t have outdoor garden space. Start by choosing containers that hold at least ½ gallon of soil and fill them with a high-quality, nutrient-rich potting mix. Sow two or three seeds just below the soil surface and keep the soil evenly moist. Seeds typically germinate within 7–14 days. Once seedlings appear, thin them so only one strong plant remains in each container.

Indoor lettuce needs 6-8 hours of light daily, ideally from a sunny window or supplemental grow lights if natural sunlight is limited. Maintain temperatures of at least 60°F (16°C) and water regularly so the soil never dries out completely. If good soil and quality seeds are used, fertilizer is usually unnecessary.

With proper light, moisture, and space, lettuce grows quickly indoors. Harvest leaves when they reach the desired size, either picking outer leaves for continued growth or cutting the entire plant.

Companion Planting with Lettuce

Companion planting can help lettuce grow better by reducing pests, improving soil conditions, and making efficient use of garden space. Lettuce grows well alongside many vegetables because it has shallow roots and a relatively small growth habit, allowing it to share beds without competing heavily for nutrients. Good companion plants include beets, carrots, radishes, onions, peas, tomatoes, cucumbers and strawberries. These crops generally coexist well with lettuce and can help maximize space in mixed vegetable beds.

Certain plants also help protect lettuce from pests. For example, chives and garlic can repel aphids, a common lettuce pest, while marigolds are often planted nearby to deter insects.

However, not all plants make good neighbors. Members of the cabbage family—such as broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage—are typically poor companions because they compete for similar nutrients and may attract the same pests.

Lettuce Growing Essentials

• A colorful and diversified lettuce garden is just clicks away with the wide—and colorful!—selection of seeds available at Burpee.
• Cleaning your harvested lettuce leaves is a snap with the OXO Salad Spinner from Target.
• Protect your year-end lettuce from approaching chilly weather with Junkogo’s Plant Freeze Protection Cover found on Amazon.
• A delicious and nutrient-packed crop of lettuce microgreens gets its start in Jiffy’s Organic Seed Starting Mix at Home Depot, specially formulated to create the ideal environment for new seedlings root development.
• Countertop hydroponics is made convenient with the stylish LetPot Smart Indoor Hydroponics Growing System available at Lowe’s.