How to Grow Lettuce in 4 Easy Steps: Gardening for Beginners

Would you like to learn how to grow lettuce in your backyard?

Grocery store lettuce is so perishable it doesn’t last long in your fridge. Lettuce purchased in a supermarket is also highly subject to recalls, making lettuce one of the best choices to start growing in your garden. You can even grow it in a pot on your patio or inside in a sunny window!

In this tutorial, you’ll learn how to grow lettuce in just 4 easy steps!

 

How to Grow Lettuce

1. Plant lettuce seeds 1/8″ deep in loose soil. For baby lettuce, plant seeds 2″ apart. For head lettuce, plant seeds 4″ apart and thin to 10″ apart.

2. Keep soil moist but not soggy

3. Harvest baby lettuce any time after leaves reach 2″ long. Harvest head lettuce as soon as it forms a head.

4. To get 2-4 harvests per plant, cut the lettuce off the stem instead of pulling up the plant

 

Lettuce is one of the easiest garden vegetables for beginners to grow!

 

Disclaimer: this page contains affiliate links, meaning if you make a purchase, I may earn a small commission at no additional cost to you.

 

When to Plant Lettuce

Lettuce likes cool weather and lots of water. It should be planted as soon as most nights are above freezing.

The plants will grow the best when temperatures are above freezing, but still cool.

In most areas, you’ll get the best lettuce harvests in the spring and fall, but with some extra care, lettuce can also be grown in the summer and winter.

By planting more lettuce seeds every month, you can have a continual supply.

 

 

How to Grow Leaf Lettuce

Leaf lettuce, also known as looseleaf, can be grown either as baby lettuce or spaced farther apart for head lettuce. For baby lettuce, plant seeds 2″ apart. For head lettuce plant seeds 4″ apart.

How to Grow Romaine Lettuce

It’s surprisingly easy to learn how to grow romaine lettuce ! Like looseleaf, it can be spaced 2″ apart and harvested as baby lettuce, or space seeds 4″ apart for full-sized romaine heads.

How to Grow Crisphead or Butterhead Lettuce

Crisphead (iceberg) or butterhead lettuce are usually harvested as full-sized heads and take more space than romaine or looseleaf. The plants need to be spaced at least 12″ apart to form a full-sized head.

A great source for high quality lettuce seeds is Territorial Seed Company

Fedco offers a wide variety of lettuce seeds in bulk.

And Baker Creek has the most unique lettuce varieties!

 

How to Grow Lettuce: Step by Step

 

Lettuce is easy to learn how to grow!

 

Step 1: When temperatures are above freezing, plant lettuce seeds 1/8″ deep in loose soil. For baby lettuce, plant seeds 2″ apart. For a full-sized head of lettuce, plant seeds 4″ apart and thin (pull or cut the extra plants between) to 10″-12″ apart.

Lettuce can be planted in pots or straight out in the garden. Lettuce will grow best when the weather is cool but above freezing. The plants can tolerate a light frost.

Step 2: Water regularly. The soil should be moist, but not soggy. Too little water can make the lettuce bitter, as can hot weather.

Step 3: Baby lettuce can be harvested in 4-5 weeks when the leaves are at least 2-3″ long. Harvest head lettuce in 6-10 weeks, as soon as it has formed a tight head.

Step 4: To get 2-4 harvests from each plant (romaine and looseleaf types), cut the lettuce off the stem with a sharp knife rather than pulling up the plant!

Did you know that most types of lettuce take only 30-60 days from planting to harvest? Leaf and romaine lettuces can also be harvested multiple times without having to replant!

 

Lettuce Problems:

 

Bolting

When a plant sends up a tall stalk and starts to flower, it is called “bolting”. It is natural for lettuce to bolt; that’s how the plant reproduces!

Unfortunately, lettuce that has bolted doesn’t taste so great.

Normally, you should be able to get a few harvests from each plant before it bolts. If the plant bolts before you even got a chance to harvest it, it could be caused by waiting too long to harvest, hot weather, not enough water, or plants growing too close together. This is one of the most common problems when it comes to learning how to grow lettuce!

If your plants do bolt, you can either let them flower and save seeds to plant next year, or pull up the plants and start over with new seeds!

 

Bitter Lettuce

 

Another problem with learning how to grow lettuce is dealing with bitterness.

After lettuce has been harvested and grown back a few times, it will start to loose its tenderness and grow bitter. Once you’ve harvested your greens a few times, pull the plants and plant new seeds, or stop harvesting and let them produce seeds to plant next year!

If the lettuce goes bitter before it has even been harvested, the bitterness was likely caused by lack of water or a spell of hot weather. Plant new seeds and water more faithfully, or wait until cooler weather. You can also try growing your lettuce in the shade.

 

 

 

-Kait

 

PS: If you would like to learn more about gardening, check out our article, Gardening for Beginners.

You can find real reviews of the best gardening books right here on our resources page.

Our top book recommendation for beginning gardeners is Making Vegetables by Shoshanna Easling. This large book is packed full of colorful pictures, fun ideas, and great information that will inspire you to get out there and garden!