I often use wire mini hoops covered in fabric or plastic to protect my lettuce

from frost, bad weather or pests.

Succession planting lettuce

Wondering how to plant lettuce so that you can have a very long season of
harvest? The secret is succession planting! Succession planting is simply
planting seeds at different times. I like to plant small amounts of lettuce
seed at any one time so that we have enough for our family, but not so
much that I can’t keep up with the harvest. 

The successive crops come from the additional lettuce seeds I sow every two
to three weeks from mid-spring to early summer. Seeding lettuce over the
course of spring or autumn results in a non-stop crop of high quality greens. 

How far apart to plant lettuce 

Once your lettuce seedlings are growing well, you can thin them to allow
enough room that they mature into good-sized heads. You’ll find specific
variety spacing listed on the seed packet, but generally a spacing of ten to
twelve inches is best.

For heads of baby lettuce, you can space the plants a bit closer, at six to
eight inches. This technique works well for romaine lettuce which then forms
compact heads just six to eight inches tall. 
 W
hen transplanting lettuce seedlings into my garden beds, I like to space
them ten inches apart for full-sized heads. If I’m growing a band of baby
greens, I’ll sow the seeds just a few inches apart.

How to grow a lettuce plant 

Now that you know how to plant lettuce, it’s time to learn a few key growing
techniques. The key to a high quality crop of tender, mild-tasting lettuce is
consistent moisture. If lettuce plants are heat or drought stressed, the
leaves turn bitter and the plants will bolt. Bolting is when the plants switch
from leaf production to flower production and a flower stalk emerges. Read
more about bolting here. 

I live in a northern climate where spring often takes a few steps backwards
and temperatures dip below freezing. Keep row covers handy to protect from
frost or unexpected cold temperatures. They can be placed directly over the
lettuce plants or floated above on hoops. You can also buy handy fleece
tunnels online or at garden centres.

If your spring weather turns from warm to hot quicker than expected, keep
lengths of shade cloth handy so that you can create a shady spot. It’s easy
to make hoops from half inch PVC conduit, metal wire, or other materials.
Lay a piece of 40% shadecloth on top of the hoops, securing it with clips.
Shadecloth reduces the heat and light around your lettuce plants and can
delay bolting by a week or two. 

If you’ve worked organic matter and a slow-release organic fertilizer into the
soil before planting, there’s no need to further fertilize your fast-growing
lettuce plants. 

W
hen the spring weather turns warm, I often erect a shade cloth tunnel
overtop my lettuce bed. This cools and shades the plants, delaying bolting.

Lettuce pests
In my garden, the biggest threats to my lettuce plants are deer and slugs.
To deal with deer, check out this excellent article by Jessica. She also
wrote this detailed article on slugs. I find diatomaceous earth effective on
slugs. Reapply after rain. You can also use chicken wire or willow cloches to
keep animals like deer or rabbits away from lettuce. Or, erect a mini hoop
tunnel over your bed and cover with bird netting, chicken wire, or an insect
barrier fabric. 

Aphids are another common lettuce pest. Aphids are tiny, soft bodied insects
that suck the juices from the leaves, causing curling or distortion. Because
lettuce grows so quickly, a modest infestation isn’t usually a big problem. I
 just give the leaves a quick wash before we make a salad. If there are a lot
of aphids on your lettuce plants, you can spray with an organic soapy water
spray to kill the insects and their eggs. This may require a few applications. 

How to harvest lettuce plants

Once you’ve got a nice crop of lettuce coming along in your garden, how do
you know when it’s time to harvest? There are several ways to enjoy your
lettuce:

1. Harvest as a baby green by picking individual young leaves or harvesting the

entire immature plant.
2. Selectively harvest outer leaves from looseleaf or heading varieties as the
plants grow.
3. Harvest the entire head by slicing it off about an inch above the soil.

W
hen harvesting a whole head of lettuce, slice it off just above the soil level.
 For more information on growing greens, be sure to check out these
awesome articles:

 How to start a new vegetable garden FAST!

 Grow your own salad garden
 Growing greens in a lettuce table
 8 salad greens to grow that aren’t lettuce
 Red lettuce varieties to grow

Do you have any more questions about how to plant lettuce? 

 Reader Interactions
Comments

1. Helen Malandrakis
April 2, 2020 at 10:33 am
I like to mix seeds of my leaf lettuce and arugula ad plant. That way I can
harvest of little of each at one time for my salad.

Reply
2. Pat
May 2, 2021 at 2:43 pm
My 2020 oak
Leaf lettuce came back this year (northern Indiana). Is that normal and
edible?

Reply

o Niki Jabbour
May 3, 2021 at 7:45 am
Yes! That’s awesome.. sometimes the plants can overwinter (certain
varieties are hardier than others) or sometimes they re-seed. You can
absolutely eat lettuce that has come back. – Niki

3. Wanda Tenaglia
May 26, 2021 at 6:19 am
My lettuce is growing to tall can I cut top and replant the top

Reply

4. Kayla Roman
August 8, 2021 at 3:34 pm
I tried growing my lettuce from the root i cut….it is now a vine of leaves and
i do not know how to help it can anyone give me some advice

Reply

5. Alicia
October 16, 2021 at 8:38 am
I planted Bibb lettuce yesterday and my chickens ate the tops off all of the
plants. Did not pull the plants out of the ground. Will they continue to grow?
Thanks

Reply
o Niki Jabbour
October 16, 2021 at 8:56 am
Great question!! And I’ve often had deer or rabbits nibble on my lettuce. The
good news is that they should recover. Lettuce is quite resilient and unless
they ate them down to the stumps I expect you’ll see fresh leaves in the
next week or two. – Niki

6. Lynell
October 27, 2021 at 12:54 pm
I’m growing lettuce (Romaine) for the 1st time & can’t figure why my plants
aren’t forming heads. Is there something I need to do to help tbem?

Reply

o Niki Jabbour
October 27, 2021 at 1:06 pm
Hi Lynell… it likely depends on when you planted and your location. Lettuce
needs light to produce heads and in autumn the day length is diminishing. If
you planted late, they may not have time to size up now. But you can still
eat the leaves. If you live in a milder climate (I’m zone 5B) you may still
have time for the heads to form. – Niki

7. Myra G. de los Reyes

November 9, 2021 at 12:20 pm
When you slice off the head of the in lettuce upon harvesting, what happens
to the bottom part left behind? Will the lettuce still grow?

Reply

8. Esi
December 29, 2021 at 11:38 am
My red romaine lettuce bolted. How do I save seeds for future planting?
Thank you
Reply

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