Planting, Growing, And Harvesting Lettuce | The Old Farmer's Almanac

Lettuce be honest—once you’ve tasted fresh, homegrown lettuce, there’s no going back. It’s crisper, tastier, and packs more vitamin A than the store-bought stuff. Whether you’re a seasoned grower or just getting your hands dirty, we’ll walk you through sowing, planting, caring for, and harvesting this cool-season staple.

Quick to grow and delightfully low-maintenance, lettuce thrives just about anywhere. From crunchy hearts to frilly loose-leaf varieties, there’s a leafy treasure trove waiting to be explored.

About Lettuce

Lettuce needs little introduction. Grown for its luscious leaves, there’s a cornucopia of both hearting and loose-leaf varieties to explore. Lettuces that form dense heads for harvesting whole include creamy butterhead types, upright romaine and cos lettuces, and the classic, crunchy iceberg. Looseleaf lettuces can be harvested whole or a few leaves at a time, ‘cut-and-come-again ’-style. Choose from the classic salad bowl lettuce, handsome oakleaf types, or any number of other colorful leaves that’ll brighten vegetable beds and ornamental borders alike.

Lettuce is a cool-season crop growing well in most regions in the spring and fall. This crop is perfect for beginners; it’s easily sown by seed directly in the soil as soon as the ground can be worked. Because lettuce grows quickly, the best approach is to plant a small amount of seeds at a time, staggering the plantings.

Lettuces are a great leafy green because they grow quickly, produce for a long time, and are not very demanding if you keep the plants sufficiently watered. Plus, lettuce grows great in raised beds, making it ideal for small spaces. Lettuces are perfect for containers, which can be placed on decks, patios, balconies, and porches.

See these clever tips and tricks for seeding lettuce from expert vegetable gardener Ben!