How to Succession Sow Lettuce for a Continual Crop
Lettuce doesn’t have to be seasonal. Succession sowing allows you to grow a continual crop for a steady flow of leafy greens. Year-round lettuce means fresh salads, sandwiches, and wraps no matter the weather! Use these seven steps to grow lettuce throughout the year.
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Lettuce is one of the best leafy greens to grow. It’s a high performer in home gardens, and there are dozens of varieties to choose from. There are heat-loving Romaines, cool-loving butterheads, and frost-tolerant oak-leaf types.
No matter your yard’s conditions, there’s sure to be a variety that’s good for your kitchen and garden. This crop has a short maturing period, meaning it’ll grow quickly from a seedling to an adult. It tends to bolt as days lengthen and warm in spring and summer.
Bolting is a natural response that lettuce has to complete its life cycle. It’ll grow tall, sprout flowers, and produce seeds. Unfortunately, the leaves taste bitter and tough after the plants bolt. When you succession sow lettuce seeds, you cultivate a continual crop despite lettuce’s bolting tendencies.
Step 1: Choose Your Varieties
As one of the oldest cultivated crops in the world, lettuce is a popular leafy vegetable that’s versatile and varied. Many different varieties fit into five main groups:
- Butterhead / Boston / Bibb
- Crisphead / Iceberg
- Romaine / Cos
- Summer Crisp / Batavia
- Loose Leaf
Which type is best for you depends on your eating habits and your garden’s conditions. Start with your habits. Do you like a flavorful leafy variety for salads or the versatility of iceberg lettuce? Maybe you enjoy wrapping rice and beans in butterhead leaves. Start by deciding how you want your lettuce to taste and what you’d like to use it for.
Then, consider the weather. Head-forming lettuces need many weeks of mild temperatures, while loose-leaf varieties grow well in short seasons. Heat-tolerant cultivars, like ‘Parris Island Cos’ or ‘Green Salad Bowl,’ are perfect for gardens with high temperatures in spring and summer.
Step 2: Start Seeds Indoors
After choosing your favorite varieties and sourcing seeds, it’s time for planting! You have three options here: sow seeds indoors, outdoors, or do both. Indoor seed starting requires some space, though it’s a great way to beat slugs, pests, and adverse growing conditions outdoors.
To sow seeds indoors, you’ll need the following materials:
- Containers
- Trays
- Potting Soil
- Watering Can
- Bright Window or Grow Lights
Start by filling the containers with soil and putting them on trays. Water them so the soil is moist, but not soggy, and gather your seeds. Sow two to three seeds per container and cover them with a thin layer of soil. Place no more than an eighth of an inch of soil on top of the seeds.
Situate the lettuce under bright light, either from a well-lit window or plant grow lights. Keep the seedlings moist while they grow, and begin moving them outdoors once they have a few leaves. Repeat this process every two weeks to have a steady flow of lettuce for transplanting.
Step 3: Sow Lettuce Outdoors
Outdoor seed sowing is another way to bolster your lettuce supply. It’s a great way to fill in the empty spaces in your garden. Don’t leave the soil bare—sow lettuce seeds instead!
Sow three seeds every six to eight inches, and thin the seedlings so that one remains per grouping. Bury them an eighth of an inch deep and keep them moist while they sprout and grow.
Lettuce plants may attract aphids, slugs, snails, and whiteflies, among other insects. Keep your young plants pest-free by watering them consistently and giving them full sun or partial shade, with three or more hours of daily direct sunlight. Squish young pests and spray them off with a watering hose to prevent them from spreading.
Step 4: Make Repeat Sowings
Succession sow lettuce every three weeks. Most lettuces need anywhere from 20 to 80 or more days to mature after planting. Sow seeds or plant transplants every three weeks for a continual crop you can harvest throughout the growing season.
Growers in mild climates can sow seeds during the fall and winter for cool-season harvests. Cold climate growers in USDA hardiness zones 8 and below should succession sow lettuce in spring and summer until a month before the first frost date of autumn. In very hot areas, give yours some shade to prevent premature bolting.
Many lettuces provide tender baby greens that are delectable. You may succession sow seeds more often than three weeks if you’re harvesting the young seedlings. Use them for baby greens in salad mixes, casseroles, and fresh dishes. Make a blend of many different varieties for a classic mesclun mix.
Step 5: Care for Lettuce
Lettuces need cool, moist, and sunny conditions to grow its best. Whether you’re planting them in containers, raised beds, or in the ground, giving your plants the proper amount of care will lead to successful harvests.
Consistent water is key to healthy growth. Summer crops may need daily watering to stay moist despite high temperatures and dry weather. Rainfall is a friend of this plant, making it the perfect crop for rainy gardens.
If your plants begin to bolt, let them! They’ll turn bitter once they bolt. Take them out and replace them with new seedlings, or let the plants bolt to collect their seeds. Their flowers tend to be self-pollinating, though there’s a chance they may cross-pollinate.
Insects or the wind can dust pollen from one variety’s flowers to another’s, which leads to cross-pollination. Growing the seeds that form may result in odd-growing seedlings that resemble multiple lettuces. Collect seeds for a chance to discover new varieties!
Step 6: Harvest Consistently
Consistent harvesting is key in preventing bolting. These plants may regrow heads or loose leaves if you harvest them consistently. There are a few different ways you can harvest them.
Pick loose outer leaves for a small salad. Or, chop entire heads at two inches above the soil if you want them to regrow. The plants will resprout additional heads two or three more times after the initial harvest. The final option is to harvest the entire head and kill the plant. This is best if you plan on replacing it with a new one.
After harvesting, clean the heads or leaves and dunk them in cold water. Let them sit for a while, then remove them from the water and let them dry. Put heads in the crisper drawer of your fridge, and store loose leaves in containers.
Step 7: Grow Lettuce Inside
When the outdoors grows too hot or cold for growing lettuce, take your crop indoors! This plant grows surprisingly well indoors with bright light and average temperatures. Situate it in containers under a well-lit window or grow lights.
Keep indoor seedlings away from harsh drafts, like from heaters and doors. Water them regularly, yet not too often, so they’re moist, but not soggy.
If the plants grow leggy and thin, they need more light. Boost the brightness by moving them closer to the window or by adding more grow lights.
