How to Grow Lettuce from Seed at Home

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Are you ready to learn how to grow lettuce from seed? It’s the ultimate crop for fresh salads and is super fast-growing and low-maintenance. Making it an excellent crop for beginners and experienced gardeners alike.

Lettuce is a cool-weather plant that grows best in early spring and fall. Some varieties are more heat tolerant and can quickly be grown in raised beds, containers, and even indoors.

So for home gardeners, even beginners, lettuce is an excellent addition to a home garden.

This post will take you through the four varieties of lettuce, nutrition, how to grow lettuce from seed, and a step-by-step guide for fertilizing, watering, harvesting, and storing lettuce.

About Lettuce

Lettuce is an annual leaf vegetable. It is a member of the aster family (Asteraceae). When it goes to seed, it produces flowers that resemble the ornamental native aster.

It thrives in temperatures of 60-65°F. Lettuce varieties are mild with a sweet flavor and can be grown in a rainbow of colors.

Leaf lettuce can be used as wraps for keto and low-carb diets instead of bread.

It’s high in vitamins K and A, but its values vary from variety to variety.

Lettuce Varieties

There are four main varieties of lettuce:  crisphead, butterhead, romaine, and leaf lettuce.

Crisphead (Batavian)

The most common crisphead is Iceberg. The head lettuce that is easily found in produce at the grocery store- the round light green heads.

Batavian is the one lettuce that holds up to the heat of summer while keeping its crispness and sweet flavor. It has a long growing season of 50-70 days. It is the least nutritious of the four varieties.

We are not fans of the iceberg lettuces available in stores, but homegrown does taste so much better than those grown commercially.

Common varieties of Crisphead lettuce are Iceberg, Arianna, Crystal, and Sierra, with Arianna being our favorite.

Butterhead Lettuce (Bibb)

Often called Bibb lettuce or Boston lettuce, it’s the largest in the varieties.

Butterhead types can be direct sown thickly for a baby leaf harvest or thinned to a 10-inch spacing to grow to head lettuce. This variety is the more common one grown in home gardens.

The flavor is a creamy, buttery taste and is fantastic for salads, or we use larger leaves as wraps instead of bread.

Bibb lettuce stands up well to our temperatures here in Tennessee. It doesn’t get bitter in the heat as other varieties do.

Some common varieties of butterhead lettuce are Tom Thumb, Speckled Amish, Buttercrunch, and Crawford, with Buttercrunch being our favorite.

Romaine (Cos Lettuce)

Romaine lettuce is the most nutritious of the lettuce varieties. It grows in tall long heads 12-24 inches high, but it can be harvested much shorter.

Most varieties are deep green, but some are red, such as the Rogue d’Hiver (Heirloom) and Sweet Valentine.

Romaine lettuces are great for salads, or we often use them as Taco Boats instead of taco shells.

Besides the mentioned Rouge d’Hiver & Sweet Valentine, other common varieties of romaine lettuce are Parris Island, Cosmo, and Jericho.

Loose Leaf

Loose leaf lettuces are what is known as cut-and-come-again lettuce. Meaning it can be cut and harvested, and the roots will produce more leaves and continue to grow.

It’s the second most nutritious of the lettuce varieties, and it’s what’s found in the salad mix bags labeled as baby salad mix or spring mix in the grocery store.

Loose leaf is the most popular lettuce to grow for home gardeners, and for a good reason.

• They don’t require much space, making it easy to grow a lot in a small space
• It’s an attractive low cover for planting around the edges of garden beds making for an edible landscape
• It’s fast-growing and can be harvested when leaves are as small as 2-3 inches tall
• Loose leaf is also more heat tolerant and grows well in poor soil

We grow several varieties of loose-leaf lettuces and enjoy fresh salads in Tennessee’s warmer months.

Common Varieties of Loose Leaf Lettuces:

• Grand Rapids –  is our favorite and very popular among gardeners. It’s ready to harvest as baby leaves in 28 days or can be left to grow to full maturity in 50 days. So it has an extended harvest, which is one of the reasons we enjoy it.
• Green Oakleaf (Heirloom) – This lettuce grows well in the garden and containers so anyone can grow it, even on a balcony. It can be succession planted every two weeks and ready to harvest 45 days later.
• Simpson Elite – This variety is slow to bolt and holds up well to heat, making it an excellent lettuce for beginners. It also holds up to colder temperatures making it a great lettuce to grow year-round.

RELATED: Even if you’ve never gardened before, this Vegetable Gardening for Beginners Ultimate Guide is for you! Learn everything you need to know from over 60 resources, all in one place, to be a successful gardener, including improving soil, cover crops, warm and cool season crops, organic amendments, fertilizing, watering, and so much more.

When to Plant Lettuce

Lettuce is a fast-growing green that loves cool weather but is not frost tolerant like cabbage or Brussel sprouts.

RELATED: Garden Mapping: Planning Your Vegetable Garden – spacing, succession planting, trellising, and more!

You can find your local frost dates by contacting your local extension office or entering your zip code here at PlantMaps.com.

Spring Planting:

Sow seeds 2-4 weeks before your last frost date in early spring. The best soil temperature for planting lettuce is 50°F.

Successive plantings can be done every two weeks to extend your harvest and can be done right up until fall frost. Succession sowing will help stagger harvesting times, so you are not overwhelmed with all your lettuce ready at one time.

Fall Planting:

Lettuce can be planted for fall crops as well. First, sow seeds in warm soil about eight weeks before the first fall frost. And then succession plant every two weeks for a continuous harvest.

Lettuce Starting Methods

Indoor Seedling Starts

To get a jump on spring, lettuce can be started indoors three weeks before time to sow outdoors and then transplanted as seedlings into garden soil once it has warmed to 50°F.

You can transplant and then direct succession sow more seeds two weeks later. Transplants should be 2-3 inches tall before transplanting outdoors.

Plant lettuce seedlings the depth they are in seedling trays or up to the bottom of their leaves, deep enough to cover the roots with rich, healthy garden soil.

Direct Sowing

If you lack space indoors to start seedlings, this is OK since lettuce is fast growing. I prefer direct sowing since I have other starts like broccoli, cauliflower, peppers, and tomatoes on my seed starting shelves.

Growing Lettuce Over The Winter

Lettuce can be grown indoors year around using grow lights. You would do the same thing, plant a small amount every two weeks (succession planting) to extend the harvest and enjoy fresh salad greens all winter.

How to Plant Lettuce Seeds

You can sow seeds thickly in your planting area for growing baby greens; this is how we do our leaf lettuce for spring mix baby greens.

Lightly scratch the surface of the soil to about ½ inch deep. And then, lightly scatter or sprinkle seeds on the surface. Next, rake about ⅛ – ¼ inch deep soil over them. Lightly touch to ensure soil contact.

Water well with a light sprinkle to moisten the soil.

TIP: Don’t allow the soil to dry while the seeds germinate. They should be kept moist for the best germination.

Thinning

If you prefer to let your lettuce grow to full-size heads, thin the lettuce to about 12 inches apart. There’s no need to waste the thinnings, though. You can do this over a couple of weeks, eating them as you harvest to thin.

We don’t use a lot of “head” lettuce, but we love the flavor of homegrown Iceberg on summer grilled hamburgers. So I do this –

I pick out the healthiest-looking seedlings and put a marker beside them (usually a flag). Then when I harvest baby greens for a fresh salad, I harvest around the ones I have marked, giving them the space they need to grow to mature full-head lettuce.

Staggering Rows

When transplanting seedlings, you can stagger rows to give every row adequate spacing for a larger harvest. Here’s how:

1. In row 1, transplant seedlings every 12 inches.
2. Then, start row 2, about 6 inches from row 1.
3. To start the first seedling in row 2, leave empty the first 6 inches. Then plant every 12 inches.

Staggering gives all the seedlings good air space and room to grow to full maturity.

Where to Plant & Grow Lettuce

Does lettuce have to be planted in the full sun? It grows best in full sun but will also tolerate light shade. Shade is beneficial for extending the growing season and keeping temperatures cooler which helps to delay bolting.

The afternoon shade is best since the sun tends to be much warmer in the late afternoon.

We find that planting lettuce to the north side of companion plants like carrots, cucumbers, and pole or bush beans is sufficient to get the morning sun but shaded in the afternoon.

How to Care for Lettuce

Lettuce is easy to grow and doesn’t require a lot of attention. Head lettuce will require more time investment than leaf lettuce, but it’s still minimal.

Watering

Lettuce has shallow roots, less than 1 inch, so it must be kept consistently moist but not wet. Therefore, checking moisture 2-3 times a week is helpful.

You can do this by sticking your finger into the soil about an inch deep to check for moisture, or I prefer to use this moisture meter.  I like this one since it measures the soil structure’s light, moisture, and pH.

Keeping the soil moist helps to prevent bolting and preserves the quality of your plants. If it rains, this is great, but in the summer months here in Tennessee, we experience drought during the summer.

You can carry water with 5-gallon buckets or large watering cans. I did this for years.

But finally, I bought a drip irrigation system from Drip Depot. I love this company! They do nothing BUT irrigation, and their website is super helpful with articles and video using their products.

RELATED: How and When to Water a Garden

Mulching

Applying several inches of mulching is also helpful. You can use straw, chopped leaves, or even grass clippings. Mulch adds organic amendments to the soil and helps in several ways.

• Weed Suppression – keeping mulch over the soil blocks sunlight and helps to control weeds. TIP:  If you have weeds, carefully pull them by hand. As mentioned, lettuce roots are shallow, and using a garden tool could damage roots. 
• Moisture Retention – having a layer of mulch over the soil helps to hold in moisture, keeping the sun from drying out the soil
• Temperature Control – keeping a good layer of mulch over garden soil helps keep the sun from heating the soil. Remember, lettuce is a cool-season crop and prefers cooler soil temperatures

Fertilizing

Leaf lettuce does well in rich garden soil. If you spread compost over the soil before planting, it should have all it needs to grow to healthy leaves for harvesting early.

But if you plan to let your lettuces grow into heads, it would benefit from a balanced organic fertilizer about 30 days after germinating.

I use this liquid Pure Blend Tea compost solution. If you’d rather use a dry fertilizer, I also enjoy this Down to Earth Organic fertilizer.

I find that liquids last much longer as far as supply. And dry fertilizers have to be wet several times to dissolve and soak into the soil.

Garden Pest and Disease

Lettuce doesn’t come without garden pests and diseases. The good news is as long as it’s growing in rich soil and has plenty of sunlight and the fertilizer it needs, you can produce an excellent lettuce crop without harsh insecticides.

The good idea is to look your plants over closely, 2-3 times a week, to check for any pests or diseases that may be invading.

Common lettuce pests are caterpillars, cutworms, whiteflies, leafminers, and slugs. This article from North Carolina State University is excellent information about these pests.

Harvesting

Harvesting is one reason why lettuce is easy to grow. You can harvest lettuce at any size you like. For example, you can pick when leaves are 3-4 inches long for an early spring mix.

Or, if you prefer to let it grow into head lettuce, harvest before the heads begin to lengthen or extend (elongate), which is a sign of bolting.

Lettuce will bolt and become bitter if left too long in the garden.

Leaf lettuce can be ready to harvest in as little as 30 days after planting. Head lettuces can be harvested in 70-90 days, depending on the variety.

Lettuce is best harvested early in the morning after the dew has evaporated but before the sun has had time to heat the leaves and cause them to wilt. The sun is harsh on lettuce and causes stress which causes wilt.

I prefer to pick leaf lettuce with my fingers. Here’s how:  Using my thumb and pointer finger, I firmly grasp the outside leaves, one at a time, about 2 inches from the base of the stem, and pinch the leaf off. I take only a few at a time from each plant.

Or, if you prefer, you can use a knife and cut each stem individually. A knife takes two hands and is much slower than finger harvesting. Garden season is busy, and making things simple is essential here on our homestead.

Remember to leave the stems if you are growing cut-and-come-again lettuce.

How to Store Fresh Lettuce

Store lettuce loosely in an air-tight plastic bag. It will keep for 7-10 days. But I prefer to harvest mine the day I plan to use it, so storing it isn’t necessary.

If you harvest more than you can use at one time, or buy it from the local farmers market, store it in the frig. If it begins to wilt, it can be revived or perked up by putting it in an ice bath for about 30 minutes.

So whether you are a beginner or a seasoned gardener, and no matter if you are growing lettuce outside, indoors, or in containers on a balcony, I hope you learned something new in this article.

If you have any questions, comment in the comments area below, and I will get the message.

More Garden Growing Tips:

• How To Grow Beets From Seed To Harvest
• When to Plant Early Spring Vegetables
• 13 Easiest-to-Grow Vegetables for Beginners
• 13 Fast-Growing Fall Vegetables for a Productive Fall Garden | Quick Harvest

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