Growing Lettuce- Tips and Tricks

Home grown lettuce, in my honest opinion, is the absolute best variety. Not only is it crisp, sweet, and delicate. Unfortunately, many gardeners tend to avoid growing lettuce because they struggle with the lettuce going to seed to early and ending up having a bitter taste. This is not necessary! Here's a quick but thorough guide on how to successfully grow lettuce at home!

1.) Prepare Your Soil

This is the very first and, arguably, the most important step in preparing your garden for lettuce growing. Your, and I chuckle as I type this, "garden variety" garden soil is not sufficient for growing successful lettuce. You will most likely be successful with a mixture of soil. 1/3 regular soil, 1/3 fertilizing soil, and 1/3 peat moss or compost is ideal. You might also consider using a slow-release fertilizer such as Osmocote. This type of fertilizer will deliver what your lettuce plants need for healthy and quick growth.

2.) Plan Your Watering

Many a gardener fails at producing quality lettuce because they do not provide adequate water. Do get the sweet and crisp lettuce you want, you will need an almost constant source of water. The best way to do this is to use a drip-water system. This drip irrigation system will provide a constant, yet uniform, flow of water to your lettuce soil. You can find these systems anywhere and can be set up for less than $19. Here is a quick link to The Drip Store for all of your drip irrigation needs. Should you decide not to set up one of these systems, be prepared to water your lettuce twice daily if you live in a hot and dry climate. Once a day if you live in a very humid climate. The basic idea is to keep the soil constantly moist.

3.) Plan Seeding

You are now ready to begin planning your seeding. You will want to do this well in advance of actually planting the seeds. Many seed packs say "Plant as early as soil can be worked." This will be weeks ahead of your last frost date. The best thing to do is to plan when you want to plant the seeds in the ground. Once you have decided this, you will want to plant the seeds 3-4 weeks ahead of time. It is not generally advised to start the seeds in the ground as this delays growth too much. Do not plant yet, move to Step 4.

4.) Planting Seeds

Ideally, you would want to start your seedlings in a greenhouse. We will go on the assumption that most of us do not have one, so they can be started indoors. You will retain the best results if you take the planted seedlings outdoors in a well sunned and sheltered area and taking them indoors at night. Remember to not let them ever dry out! Should you forget them outside at night, lettuce can grow if frozen hard, so do not think it is ruined if you left it outside overnight accidentally, however, it will slow the growth of the seedling. So be advised to not forget again! Quick growth is essential to good home grown lettuce!

5.) Hardening Off

This is the step where you are preparing your new plant for it's coming environment. Place them in an area that gets part sun and do not take them in at night. This is the 'college years' for your seedling. It will learn to adjust to the changes in temperature on it's own. This process acclimates the baby seedling to the environment you will be placing it in. Again, keep it watered!!

6.) Planting

After about a week of hardening off, your seedlings are ready to be planted in the ground soil you have previously prepared. They are best placed about 10 inches apart and water them in well. After this, maintain that watering constantly. You will need to either water them twice daily or you have already set up your drip-irrigation system.

You can eat your lettuce anytime the leaves begin to form! If you choose to eat the 'Baby Lettuce', lettuce in it's early leaf stages, be sure to pull the leaves off gently. Never, at any life stage in which you plan to keep it growing, should you take more than 1/3 of the leaves at a time. This will avoid killing the plant. As your plant matures and becomes lush and full of leaves, you will be able to cut straight across the lettuce. If well watered, you will be able to enjoy a second helping by the 'cut and come again' system! Always, always wash the lettuce before eating to remove any dirt or insects that might have gotten onto or into it while being in and on the ground!

Enjoy!