Growing lettuce is easy and promising. Here's a guide to planting lettuce and tips on location and timing.
Cultivation of lettuce (Lactuca sativa) is easy and therefore also suitable for beginners or gardeners. In this article you will find out how to plant lettuce in your home. Here we tell you everything about the right time to plant, the best location, the right way to plant and the best care for your lettuce.
When should you plant lettuce?
There are different times for growing lettuce depending on the species. It is also crucial whether you sow directly into the bed or whether you prefer seedlings in the warm greenhouse or on the windowsill earlier. By pulling them forward, you give your lettuce plants a head start outside in the bed and save on seed - but it also means more work. Sowing directly into the bed is less time-consuming, but small plants often fall victim to voracious snails. Of course you can also plant lettuce on the balcony or grow it in a raised bed.
The classic among salads, lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. capitata), can be grown from mid-February and in March Planted out or sown outdoors from March to April. The same applies to batavia lettuce (Lactuca sativa), iceberg lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. capitata nidus tenerimma) and Lettuce to pick or cut (Lactuca sativa var. crispa). They can be brought forward from mid-April or sown directly in the garden from May to August. Cos lettuce (Lactuca sativa var. longif.webpolia) can be grown in the garden bed from May to June or grown indoors or in a greenhouse from mid-April.
Endives (Cichorium endivia) are only sown later in the year, namely from June to July directly in the bed. Lamb's lettuce (Valerianella locusta) can be sown either in autumn or in spring. Lamb's lettuce sown in August can be harvested before winter.If you sow it in September, you can harvest the first fresh lettuce very early in spring. Alternatively, lamb's lettuce can also be applied in spring from the beginning to the end of April.
Overview: when is the right time to plant lettuce?
- Iceberg lettuce, pick-lettuce, cut lettuce: Bring forward mid-April; outdoors from May to August
- Rose Lettuce: bring forward mid-April; outdoors from May to June
- Head lettuce, batavia lettuce: bring forward mid-February; outdoors from March to May
- Endive Salad: June to July
- Lambs lettuce: August to September, beginning to end of April
Where to grow lettuce?
Salad is modest and not very demanding on its location. It feels comfortable in both a sunny and a partially shaded location. He just doesn't like it completely shaded. The soil should ideally be loose and well aerated. In addition, the salad likes it humus and moist, but not too wet. There should be a four-year break between planting lettuce on the same plot.
Overview: the right location and soil for lettuce
- Sunny to semi-shady location
- Loose soil
- Rich in humus
- Well ventilated
- Damp but not wet
Tip: Lettuce is a welcome neighbor in the bed. Both strawberries (Fragaria) and radishes (Raphanus sativus var. sativus) as well as kohlrabi ( Brassica oleracea var. gongylodes) or dill (Anethum graveolens) appreciate its neighborhood. Parsley, on the other hand, is less fond of it (Petroselinum crispum ssp. crispum).
Lead Planting Instructions
When cultivating lettuce, you have the option of cultivating seedlings in order to then plant them out or sow the lettuce directly in the field outdoors. In the following we present both possibilities.
Prefer salad
As mentioned before, there are a number of advantages to preparing your lettuce. To do this, prepare seed pots with special growing soil. The lettuce seeds are placed half a centimeter deep into it. Lettuce germinates in the light and should therefore only be lightly covered with substrate. After that, the seed is moistened with a spray bottle. In a bright place where it is not too warm - at best between 10 and 16 °C -,the lettuce should now germinate within 10 to 14 days. After they have opened, you can transplant the seedlings into individual pots.
Overview: Prefer lettuce
- Prepare seed trays with potting soil
- Germination temperature: 10 - 16 °C
- Seed depth: 0.5 - 1 cm
- Cover seeds very lightly with soil
- Moisten with spray bottle
- Germination period: 10 - 14 days
- Pike after rising
Plant lettuce
The lettuce can be planted outdoors about four weeks after pre-growing. Other options are, of course, sowing the lettuce directly in the garden bed or planting bought seedlings.
Prepare the bed well before planting by loosening the soil and removing all weeds and stones. Then enrich the soil with compost or a fertilizer with an organic long-term effect - such as our Plantura organic tomato fertilizer. This gives your lettuce the best growing conditions from the start.
Now create grooves about 25 centimeters apart for direct sowing or for planting. However, these can vary depending on the type of salad. This also applies to the distance between the plants. In general, however, a planting distance of 25 centimeters also applies to most types of lettuce. For direct sowing, the seed furrows should only be half a centimeter deep. When planting young plants, they should only be deep enough for the roots of the lettuce plants to protrude from the ground. Both the seed and the planted young plants are then watered. If you have sown too close together, young plants that are too close together should be isolated after they have opened.
Overview: planting lettuce
- Loosen up the bed well
- Apply compost or slow-release fertilizer
- Create plant grooves
- Row spacing: 25 cm
- Planting distance: 25 cm
- Cover the seed lightly with soil
- Prepare planting holes for planting
- Roots should be just above the ground
- Cast on
- Separate when sowing after emergence
Care for lettuce after planting
Lead consists of over 95 percent water. No wonder, then, that the plant needs plenty of it during its growth. If the lettuce lacks water, it will become too firm and heads will start to snap. Water in midsummerso make sure to do it regularly to keep your lettuce from shooting. After the basic fertilization during planting, you no longer have to fertilize with most types of lettuce. Regular hoeing around the lettuce is necessary to stimulate mineralization and ensure better water penetration into the soil. At the same time, this has the nice side effect that the weeds are also removed.
You can read even more about the ideal nutrient supply for lettuce in our special article on fertilizing lettuce.