Lettuce

If you want to reduce your supermarket bill and also improve the quality of your salads, grow lettuce -- and grow it in variety. With very little space, you'll have a steady supply of wonderful salads from earliest spring until past frost. You'll have only a short hiatus in the hottest parts of summer, when this cool-season vegetable stops producing.

Lettuce comes in four basic types: crisphead, butterhead, loose-leaf, and romaine. Crisphead types are also called iceberg or Batavian lettuce. Butterhead lettuces form smaller, looser heads. Loose-leaf lettuce has an open growth pattern and doesn't form a head. Romaine or cos lettuce forms upright, cylindrical heads.

Lettuce grows best at cool temperatures. It becomes bitter and goes to seed in summer heat, but you can find types touted as more heat-tolerant.

Light:

Sun,Part Sun

Plant Type:

Vegetable

Plant Height:

2-12 inches tall

Plant Width:

2-12 inches wide

Top Varieties

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'Buttercrunch' butterhead lettuce

Lactuca sativa 'Buttercrunch' has ruffled outer leaves, but it forms a tightly bunched, blanched yellow heart with a creamy texture. 65 days
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'Ithaca' head lettuce

Lactuca sativa 'Ithaca' forms a firm head with good disease resistance. 65 days
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'Lollo Rossa' leaf lettuce

Lactuca sativa 'Lollo Rossa' bears frilly, dark red curled leaves that are great for garnishes or to add color and texture to mixed salads. 50 days
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'Marvel of Four Seasons' butterhead lettuce

Lactuca sativa 'Marvel of Four Seasons' is also known as 'Merville de Quatre Saison'. Its heavily textured, red-tipped leaves form a loose butterhead. 60 days
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'Outredgeous' romaine lettuce

Lactuca sativa 'Outredgeous' offers bright red leaves, even in low-light conditions. Baby lettuce is ready to harvest in 28 days; full-size plants in 57 days.
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'Parris Island Cos' romaine lettuce

Lactuca sativa 'Parris Island Cos' is an old-time favorite with a white heart and stiffly upright green leaves. 70 days
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'Red Salad Bowl' leaf lettuce

Lactuca sativa 'Red Salad Bowl' is often sold as a mix of red and green forms. It produces a cluster of undulating leaves. 45 days
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'Royal Oak' leaf lettuce

Lactuca sativa 'Royal Oak' tolerates heat well. A red version is also available. 50 days
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'Summertime' head lettuce

Lactuca sativa 'Summertime' is heat-tolerant and slow to bolt. It forms a light green head. 68 days
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'Tango' oakleaf lettuce

Lactuca sativa 'Tango' is a deeply lobed oakleaf-shape loose-leaf lettuce. Baby lettuce is ready to harvest in 28 days; full-size plants in 45 days.
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Garden Plans

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A Garden of Salad Greens
All-American Vegetable Garden Plan
Fall Vegetable Garden Plan
Small-Space Vegetable Garden Plan
Spring Vegetable Garden Plan
A Garden of Salad Greens
Spring Vegetable Garden Plan
Heritage Vegetable Garden
Colorful Vegetable Garden Plan
Patio Vegetable Garden Plan
Planting Plans Inspired by the White House Kitchen Garden

Harvest Tips

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Begin picking outer leaves of butterhead, loose-leaf, and romaine lettuce varieties when they are 2 inches long. Continue to harvest outer leaves as long as the flavor remains good. You can also cut the entire plant at the base when it reaches the desired size. Extend the harvest season by sowing small patches of lettuce every three weeks until late spring, then again in late summer for fall harvest.

Propagation

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Seed