Salad leaf
How to grow lamb's lettuce (corn salad)
Valerianella locusta
Lamb's lettuce, also sold as corn salad or mâche, is the easiest winter salad for a UK garden. Sow it direct in August and September on ground cleared of summer crops, keep the drill cool and moist until it germinates, and pick small rosettes from October to April. It is fully hardy, grows in sun or light shade, and needs no feeding at all. A cloche keeps the leaves clean and speeds growth in midwinter.
- Hardiness
- Fully hardy
- Position
- Sun to light shade
- Soil
- Most soils, moisture-retentive
- Ideal pH
- 6.5 to 7.0
- Water
- Low to moderate
- Feeding
- Light feeder
Sowing and planting lamb's lettuce (corn salad)
WhenSow Aug to Sep (and Mar to Apr); harvest Oct to Apr
Starting off
Direct sow August to September for winter and March to April for late spring, germinating slowly in 10 to 21 days at 10 to 15 °C; it refuses to germinate above 20 °C, so water the drill well and shade in warm weather. Firm the soil before sowing. Plants self-sow readily if a few are left to flower in May.
Spacing and planting
Sow 1 cm deep in drills 15 cm apart and thin to 10 cm, or broadcast thinly in a 10 cm band and leave unthinned for baby leaves. Ideal in a 15 cm deep trough or windowbox, and under cloches or in a cold greenhouse for winter.
Varieties worth growing
- Vit
- Vigorous, glossy long-leaved type with good mildew resistance. The most reliable for autumn sowing and for growing under cover.
- Verte de Cambrai
- Traditional French small-leaved type that sits flat to the soil. Very cold-hardy and the best flavoured for outdoor winter rows.
- Favor
- Upright, dark green rosettes that stay cleaner in wet weather and are quick to cut whole.
- D'Olanda (Dutch large-seeded)
- Larger, paler leaves and faster growth. Suited to spring and early autumn sowings, though less hardy than the small-leaved types.
Month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Pick rosettes or single leaves. Ventilate cloches on mild days.
- February
Keep picking. Growth speeds up as the days lengthen.
- March
Sow outdoors for a late spring crop. Pick the overwintered rows hard before they flower.
- April
Last spring sowing. Overwintered plants run to seed: leave a few if you want it to self-sow.
- May
Cut the spring sowing. Collect or scatter seed from flowered plants, then clear.
- June
Nothing to do. It will not germinate in warm soil.
- July
Nothing to do. Order seed for the August sowing.
- August
Main sowing after onions or early potatoes. Water the drill first and shade it in hot weather.
- September
Second sowing outdoors, and a sowing in the greenhouse border for midwinter. Thin to 10 cm.
- October
First pickings from the August sowing. Cover a row with cloches.
- November
Pick as needed, taking the largest rosettes first.
- December
Pick lightly. Growth almost stops until late January.
Feeding lamb's lettuce (corn salad)
Lamb's lettuce needs no fertiliser in garden soil. It follows a summer crop and lives on what that crop left behind; feeding gives soft leaves that rot in winter.
Minimal, it thrives on poor ground and asks for almost nothing.
Feeding plan
Before sowing, in the ground
Nothing
No fertiliser and no fresh compost or manure. Rake the bed level and firm it.
Pots and troughs, at sowing
Only if you are reusing spent compost: 5 ml per litre, the bottom of the label range, which is 50 ml (about 3 level tablespoons) mixed through a 10 litre trough. In fresh compost, none.
Once in October and once in March, optional
1 g per litre of water over the leaves on a dry, mild day. A 5 litre can (5 g) covers about 3 m of row. It supplies trace elements with almost no nitrogen.
No fertiliser is recommended for lamb's lettuce in open ground. The two seaweed products are optional and listed only for pots of reused compost.
Signs to watch
Yellowing lower leaves in a waterlogged winter bed
Drainage, not nutrition
Grow in a raised bed or trough
Small, tough rosettes after a dry autumn
Water short at sowing
Keep moist until established
Lush, soft leaves that rot
Excess nitrogen or manure
Never feed
Pests, diseases and problems
Seedlings vanish or rosettes have ragged holes
Slugs and snails, active through mild winter spells and under cloches
Keep the bed free of weeds and old leaves where slugs hide, pick them off after dark, and apply nematodes in September while the soil is still above 5 °C.
White powdery coating on the leaves in autumn or early spring
Powdery mildew, mostly on crowded plants under cover
Thin to 10 cm, ventilate greenhouses and cloches on every mild day, and grow Vit, which has good resistance. Cut and discard affected rosettes.
Rosettes turn yellow and collapse into a grey, mouldy mess in winter
Grey mould (botrytis) in still, damp air
Water only in the morning and only when the soil is dry, leave cloche ends open except in hard frost, and remove yellowing leaves and spent plants promptly.
Seedlings pulled out or pecked in autumn
Sparrows and pigeons
Lay netting or fleece over the row from sowing until the plants are well rooted.
Greenfly in the heart of plants under cover in March and April
Aphids breeding early in the warmth of a greenhouse or cloche
Wash the cut rosettes well, open the vents to let predators in, and clear the crop once it starts to flower so the aphids do not move to the next one.
Harvest and rotation
Harvest and storage
Pick individual leaves or cut whole rosettes at 5 to 8 cm across, 10 to 12 weeks from sowing and then through winter; cut 1 cm above the base and the plant regrows once or twice. A 1 m row gives 20 to 30 rosettes. Eat within a day; it wilts fast, so pick in the morning and keep in a damp bag in the fridge.
Rotation and companions
Rotation: valerian family, no rotation group; a winter catch crop sown after onions, early potatoes or beans are cleared. Sow beneath winter brassicas or between leeks, where it uses the bare soil and shades nothing. Keep away from beds that will be dug in autumn, as it must stay put all winter.
Good to knowSow from late summer into autumn for hardy winter pickings; extremely cold-tolerant.
Growing in pots
This is one of the best salads for a pot. A trough or windowbox 15 cm deep is plenty: scatter seed thinly over moist peat-free compost in late August or September, cover 1 cm deep and keep it in a cool, shaded place until the seedlings show, then move it into the light. Old compost from summer tomatoes or bedding suits it well with nothing added. Water sparingly through winter, as a waterlogged pot is the commonest cause of yellow leaves, and move the trough against a house wall or into a cold greenhouse for faster growth.
Common questions
When do you sow lamb's lettuce in the UK?
Sow in August and September for the main winter crop, with a smaller sowing in March or April for late spring. Avoid June and July: the seed stays dormant in soil warmer than about 20 °C.
Why is my lamb's lettuce not germinating?
The soil is almost always too warm or too dry. Water the drill before sowing, cover the seed 1 cm deep, firm it, and shade the row with a board or fleece until the first seedlings appear, which can take two to three weeks. Seed more than a couple of years old also germinates poorly.
Does lamb's lettuce grow back after cutting?
Yes, if you cut just above the base and leave the growing point, it regrows once or twice, though more slowly in midwinter. For the steadiest supply, pick the outer leaves or take alternate rosettes and let the neighbours fill the gap.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.
- Valerianella locusta (lamb's lettuce)RHS
- Vegetables: growing for winterRHS
- How to grow lambs' lettuceBBC Gardeners' World Magazine