When do i plant lettuce

Gently water your seeds. A good tip is to use a plastic bottle with small holes punched in the cap. This is less likely to wash the seed around than the heavy spray from a watering can. Place your trays in your greenhouse, polytunnel, cold frame or windowsill to germinate. They should be ready to plant out in about 4 weeks.

It is crucial to harden off lettuce raised indoors before planting out. Plants that have been raised indoors will need to get used to the outdoor temperature and conditions before they can be planted outside, this will take about a week to 10 days depending on the weather.

The best way is to use a cloche or mini greenhouse. You can leave the cloche off the plants on dry frost free days and replace at night. Gradually increase the time with the cloche removed until the end of the week when you leave it off day and night.

If the weather is mild you may not need the cloche, just move the plants outside for longer periods each day. If you have started your seeds on a windowsill you will need to leave them in an unheated room for a day or two before moving outside to the cloche. It is important to plant lettuce with its seed leaves above the ground.

The seed leaves are the 2 lowest leaves on the stem. If these leaves are buried the stem is likely to rot and you'll loose your lettuce plant. If your lettuce seedlings have gone a bit leggy have a long stem you can plant a bit deeper to cover the stem but never further than the seed leaves. Lettuce of one sowing will usually be all ready at the same time. The plants quickly run to seed and don't store well so only sow what you need week by week.

Butterhead or crisphead lettuce is harvested by cutting the whole head at the base of the plant. Loose leaf types and cut and come again mixes can be harvested a number of times. Top Tip : The earlier in the day you harvest your lettuce the longer it will keep and the more nutritious it is.

You can also grow various mixes of salad leaves to be picked while young and tender. When buying seeds, there is a huge diversity to choose from. Hearting lettuces , which come in three main types:. Butterhead lettuces have an open shape, are quick-maturing and tolerate poorer growing conditions.

Crisphead types produce large hearts of curled, crisp leaves and are more resistant to bolting going to seed prematurely. This group includes iceberg lettuces. Loose-leaf lettuces and salad-leaf mixes produce less dense growth, ideal for picking individual leaves and for growing in small spaces and containers.

Choose from a range of colours, flavours and leaf shapes. Grow lettuces in full sun in moisture-retentive soil. Early and late sowings may need protection against cold, using cloches, plastic tunnels or horticultural fleece.

You can also grow lettuces in containers and growing bags, but be sure to water regularly. Sow a short row every fortnight to ensure continuity of cropping. For an even earlier crop, sow indoors in early February in seed trays and plant out in early March under cloches or plastic tunnels. For early winter cropping: sow outdoors in early August and cover plants with closed cloches from late September onwards.

When sowing in summer, bear in mind that high soil temperatures can prevent some cultivars from germinating. So in hot spells, sow in the evening, water with cold water and provide some shade to keep temperatures down. Thin seedlings as soon as the first true leaves appear and continue until the plants are 30cm 1ft apart. The seedlings you thin out can be added to salads.

Early in the year, sparrows can be a problem as they find young lettuce plants irresistible. Protect with fleece, chicken wire or similar. These pests can cause older plants to suddenly wilt and die back, usually in mid- to late sunmmer.

At least between one tonne and five is pretty fine. The pressure out of compression generates a lot of heat. Hello my name is Karime Gonzalez. I'm carrying out a science project in which I choose to harvest lettuce. The project is basically to make something to help the community.

So if you could tell me if you know how to make organic fertilizers I would really thank you. With many varieties of lettuce, especially loose-left lettuce, you can keep harvesting from the plant. If the weather stays cool, you can keep harvesting from the plant several times or more. Lettuce is bolting if it forms a central stalk that eventually rises high above the base leaves. This seed stalk which has leaves along its stem will form flowers toward the top and eventually seeds.

During this time, the lettuce leaves develop a bitter flavor. Hi my lettuce has been growing well for the season but now it is not producing any more lettuce and I have been told that it is doing something called going to seed but I really don't know. I was wondering if I could still do anything with them or if they were totally done. Leaf lettuce can stop growing when it is preparing to bolt go to seed. Warm temperatures, over 70F, as well as changing day length, will trigger the plant to spend its energy in forming flower stalks.

When this happens, leaves can become bitter. To delay bolting, if your area has been experiencing warm temperatures, you might try putting shade cloth over the plants so that they get filtered light.

Try to keep them out of the heat of the sun. As the plant bolts, you can still harvest the leaves until they become too bitter. Skip to main content. You are here Gardening » Growing Guides. Planting, Growing, and Harvesting Lettuce. By The Editors. When to Plant Lettuce Direct sowing in the garden is recommended as soon as the ground can be worked.

If you want an earlier crop, however, you can start seeds indoors 4 to 6 weeks before your last spring frost date. Some lettuce seedlings will even tolerate a light frost. Seedlings will typically emerge in 7 to 10 days. Nursery-bought transplants should be planted close to your last frost-free date. Transplants that were started indoors may be planted 2 to 3 weeks earlier after they are properly hardened off. After your initial planting, sow additional seeds every 2 weeks in order to have a continuous supply of lettuce.

See our Planting Calendar for planting dates. Tip: To plant a fall crop, create cool soil in late August by moistening the ground and covering it with a bale of straw. Sow a three-foot row of lettuce seeds every couple of weeks—just rotate the straw bale around the garden. Choosing and Preparing a Planting Site Select a sunny spot for the best growth. Ideally, the plants should get at least 6 hours of sun per day, though lettuce will still grow if given less than that.

To keep the soil fertile, work in composted organic matter about one week before you seed or transplant. Since the seed is so small, a well-tilled seedbed is essential.

Stones and large clods of dirt will inhibit germination. Lettuce does not compete well with weeds. Spacing lettuce close together will help to control weeds. Rotating locations from year to year helps to reduce the occurrence of most diseases. Read more about preparing soil for planting. Seedlings can be thinned when they have 3 to 4 true leaves. Transplants should have 4 to 6 mature leaves and a well-developed root system before being planting into the garden.

For either seeded or transplanted lettuce, leave 12 to 15 inches between each planting row. You can pick loose-leaf lettuce varieties from six weeks, at 10 weeks for hearting types. If sowing in the ground, prepare the soil by digging in lots of well-rotted garden compost beforehand. This helps to prevent lettuces bolting or running to seed in hot or dry weather, especially in light soils. Sow seed thinly along a moist, 1cm deep drill trench , made by pressing a bamboo cane into the soil.

Cover seeds thinly with soil or vermiculite they germinate better with some light. Leave 30cm between rows.

If sowing in pots, scatter seed sparingly over the surface of moist, peat-free seed compost and cover with a fine layer of compost or vermiculite. When the seedlings are big enough to handle, thin them out to cm apart. You can use the thinnings in a salad. Water along the row to resettle the soil around the roots of remaining plants. Mulch the area around your lettuces to seal moisture into the soil and feed your plants.