Salad leaf
How to grow lettuce
Lactuca sativa
Lettuce grows fast in any fertile, moist soil, in sun in spring and autumn and in light shade in midsummer. Sow a short row or a tray of modules every two to three weeks from February under cover to September, rather than one big sowing, and you will cut salad for most of the year. The two things that decide success are water, every morning in dry weather, and keeping slugs off the seedlings.
- Hardiness
- Half-hardy; winter types tolerate frost under cover
- Position
- Sun, with light shade in midsummer
- Soil
- Fertile, moisture-retentive
- Ideal pH
- 6.0 to 7.0
- Water
- High, shallow roots dry fast; morning watering
- Feeding
- Moderate feeder
Sowing and planting lettuce
WhenSow Feb to Sep little and often (indoors early and late); harvest 6 to 12 weeks later
Starting off
Direct or in modules every 2 to 3 weeks from February (under cover) to September, germinating in 7 to 10 days at 10 to 20 °C; the seed will not germinate above 25 °C, so in summer sow in the evening, in shade, or in a fridge-chilled tray. Transplant at 4 to 5 leaves without burying the stem. Autumn-sown 'Winter Density' or 'Arctic King' overwinters under cloches.
Spacing and planting
Sow 1 cm deep in drills 30 cm apart and thin to 15 cm for small cos and butterheads, 25 to 30 cm for icebergs and large cos; cut-and-come-again leaves 2 to 3 cm apart in a 10 cm band. Loose-leaf types crop well in a 15 cm deep trough, pot or windowbox, 6 plants to a 30 cm pot.
Varieties worth growing
- Little Gem
- Small, sweet cos that hearts in about ten weeks at 15 cm spacing. The best all-round lettuce for a small bed.
- Salad Bowl
- Loose-leaf oak-leaf type in green or red, picked a few leaves at a time for weeks and slow to bolt in heat.
- Tom Thumb
- Tennis-ball butterhead, one head per person, quick to mature and ideal for pots and window boxes.
- Webb's Wonderful
- Large, crisp iceberg type that stands hot, dry weather better than any butterhead.
- Marvel of Four Seasons
- Red-tinged butterhead with a soft heart, hardy enough for early spring and autumn sowings.
Lettuce month by month
Timings are for central England. Allow two weeks later in the north and on cold, heavy soil.
- January
Pick leaves from winter lettuce under cover. Ventilate on mild days.
- February
Sow in modules under cover from mid month.
- March
Sow in modules. Plant out February sowings under fleece late in the month.
- April
Sow direct outdoors and keep sowing every two to three weeks. Thin in stages.
- May
Sow, thin and plant out. Cut the first hearts from early sowings.
- June
Sow where taller crops will give afternoon shade. Water in the morning.
- July
Sow in the evening and water the drill first; seed sulks in hot soil. Cut before plants stretch.
- August
Sow for autumn. Sow a winter-hardy variety in the last week.
- September
Last sowing of winter-hardy varieties early in the month. Cover late crops with cloches at month end.
- October
Plant September sowings in a greenhouse border or under cloches.
- November
Pick outer leaves under cover. Remove any mouldy leaves.
- December
Ventilate and keep on the dry side. Order seed.
Feeding lettuce
A quick crop that lives on what is already in the soil. One base dressing, and nitrogen only if the leaves go pale; overfed lettuce is soft, prone to tipburn and slug damage.
A nitrogen-leaning feed for soft, fast leaves, keep growth unchecked.
Feeding plan
A week before the first sowing or planting
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
70 g/m² raked in: about 20 g per metre of row with rows 30 cm apart (70 x 0.3). On a bed composted this year, none.
Half-grown, only if the leaves are pale
Organic Nitrogen Fertiliser 13% N
25 g/m², the lowest label rate, once: about 8 g per metre of row, kept off the leaves and watered in.
Before a follow-on sowing in the same ground
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
50 g/m², or 15 g per metre of row. Keep the season's total under 150 g/m².
Pots of re-used compost
Fruit & Vegetable Fertiliser 4-5-6
5 g per litre mixed in: 75 g for a 30 cm pot of about 15 litres. Fresh compost needs nothing added for a lettuce crop.
Signs to watch
Brown, papery edges on the inner leaves of a heart
Tipburn from fast growth and fluctuating water, not soil calcium
Water evenly every morning, no late nitrogen
Bolting into a tall, bitter spike
Heat, long days or drought, not nutrition
Sow in succession and give summer shade
Pale, slow plants
Nitrogen short
One light top-dress of the dry feed in the feeding plan, watered in
Pests, diseases and problems
Seedlings vanish overnight; ragged holes and slime trails on older plants
Slugs and snails
Raise plants in modules and set them out at four to five leaves, water in the morning so the surface is dry by night, go out with a torch after rain, and use nematodes from April once the soil is above 5 °C.
Plants wilt in summer and stop growing although the soil is moist; white waxy powder on the roots
Lettuce root aphid, which flies in from poplar trees around midsummer
Cover with insect mesh from May to August, keep the row well watered, clear the crop promptly and do not follow lettuce with lettuce on that ground.
Greenfly clustered in the heart and under the leaves
Leaf aphids, commonest in dry spells
Wash them out with a firm spray of water, grow under mesh, and pick loose-leaf types often so colonies do not build.
Plant rots at soil level and comes away in the hand, with grey fuzzy mould
Grey mould (botrytis), worst under cover in winter
Plant with the lowest leaves just clear of the soil, ventilate cloches and greenhouses every dry day, water sparingly in the morning and remove dead leaves.
Yellow angular patches on older leaves with white mould beneath
Lettuce downy mildew in cool, damp weather
Pick off affected leaves, give the full spacing, water the soil rather than the leaves and choose varieties listed as resistant for autumn sowings.
Seedlings pulled out or shredded to the midrib
Sparrows and pigeons
Net or fleece the row until the plants are well grown.
Harvest and rotation
Harvest and storage
Cut hearting types when the centre feels firm, 10 to 12 weeks from sowing (6 to 8 for loose-leaf), in the morning when crisp, slicing just above soil level; cut-and-come-again types regrow two or three times if cut 2 cm above the base. A 1 m row yields 6 to 8 hearts. Eat loose-leaf within a day, hearts within a week in the fridge.
Rotation and companions
Rotation: daisy family (Asteraceae), usually treated as a catch crop fitted between other crops. Sow between rows of peas, beans, sweetcorn and brassicas, which give summer shade; radish and carrots share the bed.
Good to knowSow little and often; water in the morning and give some summer shade to curb bolting.
Growing lettuce in pots
Lettuce is one of the best crops for containers. Loose-leaf and small hearting types need only 15 cm of compost, so troughs, window boxes and old growbags all work. Use peat-free multipurpose compost, sow thinly or plant modules 10 to 15 cm apart, and water every morning: a pot that dries out once will bolt. Move containers into light shade in July and August. Raising pots onto a table or shelf keeps most slugs away, and a pot by the back door gets picked more often.
Lettuce: common questions
Why does my lettuce bolt?
Heat, drought and long days push lettuce to flower, and any check to growth brings it on sooner. Sow little and often, water every morning in dry weather, give summer sowings some shade and cut plants as soon as they are ready. Once the centre starts to stretch the leaves turn bitter.
How long does lettuce take to grow?
Loose-leaf lettuce is ready to pick 6 to 8 weeks from sowing and hearting types take 10 to 12 weeks. Cut-and-come-again leaves can be taken from about 4 weeks in summer. Growth is slower from sowings made in February and September.
Can I grow lettuce in winter?
Yes, with protection. Sow a winter-hardy variety such as Winter Density in late August or early September and plant it in a greenhouse border, cold frame or under cloches. It grows slowly, giving leaves through winter and hearts in spring.
Sources
Growing information on this page was checked against these references in November 2026. Feeding rates are Dr Forest label rates.