Leaf or Looseleaf Lettuce
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting
Leaf or Looseleaf Lettuce
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow leaf or looseleaf lettuce in the accompanying table’s tabs:
-
- How many leaf or looseleaf lettuce plants to grow
- Growing conditions for leaf or looseleaf lettuce
- When to plant leaf or looseleaf lettuce
- How to plant leaf or looseleaf lettuce
- Watering, fertilizing, and pruning leaf or looseleaf lettuce
- Companion plantings for leaf or looseleaf lettuce
- How to harvest, store, and use leaf or looseleaf lettuce
Planting and Raising Looseleaf Lettuce
Growing Leaf or Looseleaf Lettuce
Leaf lettuce is an open-head, cool-season, leafy green vegetable. Plants are loose, and open with green, purple, red, and yellow leaves, often with curly fringes that form mounding plants, to 14 in. (36 cm) tall and wide. Mild flavored, leaf and looseleaf lettuce are the perfect ingredient for delicious green and multicolor salads.
Leaf or Looseleaf Lettuce Plant Guide
How Much to Plant
Allow 6–10 plants per household member.
How to Plant
Seed germinates in 7–10 days.
Average Climates: Sow seed in full sun–partial shade in early spring or late summer when soil warms to 40–75°F (4–24°C).
Mild-Winter Climates: Sow seed in autumn. Sow seed 1/4-in. (6-mm) deep, 1–2 in. (25–50 mm) apart, thinning to 4–8 in. (10–20 cm) apart, in rows 1–2 ft. (30–60 cm) apart, or broadcast over an area and thin to 10 in. (25 cm) apart.
Autumn–Winter Gardens: Sow seed from May–October or transplants from June–October for harvest in autumn–winter.
Plant successions every 3–4 weeks.
Best Conditions for Growth
Growing temperature: 45–75°F (7–24°C). Shade plants at temperatures above 85°F (29°C). Bolts in temperatures over 80°F (27°C) and when daylight hours lengthen in summer.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained, sandy soil. Fertility: Rich. 6.0–6.8 pH. Prepare soil at least 1 ft. (30 cm) deep.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep evenly moist; avoid wetting foliage. Apply ample water during the leaf-development stage. Fertilize only at planting with 5–10–10 formula. Mulch. Cultivate. Chewing insect and slug, snail susceptible.
Autumn–Winter Gardens: Protect from frost and freezes beginning in October.
Pairing Recommendations
Carrots, cucumbers, radishes, and strawberries.
Maturity, Picking and Gathering
40–50 days. Begin harvesting when 4–6 in. (10–15 cm) tall, thinning outer leaves, leaving the central growth bud to resprout. Cut stem 2 in. (50 mm) above the soil when 10–12 in. (25–30 cm) tall but before it bolts to produce flower buds.
How to Store and Preserve
Fresh in vegetable keeper of refrigerator for 2–3 weeks. Good eaten raw as leafy green in salads or as a garnish for tacos, sandwiches and hamburgers.