When Can I Plant Lettuce

When to Plant Lettuce Sow 2 to 4 weeks before your last spring frost date. Soil temperatures need to reach 40°F (4°C), though seeds germinate best at 55 to 65°F (13 to 18°C). Seedlings will typically emerge in 7 to 10 days.

What month do you plant lettuce?

Begin planting fall lettuce in late summer so it reaches maturity when the fall air is cool. Head lettuce is usually started indoors or in a cold frame and transplanted in the spring after the last frost date.

When can I put my lettuce plants outside?

Sow a short row every fortnight to ensure continuity of cropping. When to sow depends on when you want the harvest: For summer/autumn cropping: sow outdoors from late March to late July. For an even earlier crop, sow indoors in early February in seed trays and plant out in early March under cloches or plastic tunnels.

What is the best temperature to grow lettuce?

Lettuce is adapted to cool growing conditions with the optimum temperatures for growth of 60 to 65°F. At 70 to 80°F, the plants flower and produce seed. Lettuce can tolerate a few days of temperatures from 80 to 85°F, provided that nights are cool.

What is the easiest lettuce to grow?

Loose leaf lettuce, which refers to varieties that don’t form any type of head, is considered the easiest to grow. It matures in 40-45 days, but no need to wait that long to enjoy it!Jun 29, 2018.

When can I move lettuce seedlings outside?

Lettuce should be transplanted when the plants are between 2-3 inches tall. You should harden off your lettuce plants 7-10 days before transplanting. Bring them outdoors for a few hours, increasing the length of time each day.

How do you keep lettuce growing in the summer?

Try these four steps to get them going: Find a somewhat shady spot in your garden, and give it a deep soaking of water. Periodically lift the board and re-soak the soil for another two to three days. Now, plant your lettuce seeds in the prepared area, and water them well.

Can you grow lettuce all year round?

As the name suggests, this is one you can sow and grow at any time of the year: as a general rule expect to pick your lettuces around 10 weeks after sowing. The butterhead-type heads are dense and crisp, with creamy-yellow hearts and an excellent flavour.

How cold is too cold for lettuce?

How to Grow: Lettuce is a cool-weather crop that thrives in the temperature range 60-65 degrees F, and if thoroughly hardened, most varieties survive temperatures as low as 20 degrees F. Cold-adapted varieties survive much lower temperatures. Seed germinates best at about 75 degrees F.

What temp kills lettuce?

Colder temperatures (26-31 degrees F.) may burn foliage but will not kill broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, lettuce, mustard, onion, radish, and turnip. The real cold weather champs are beets, Brussels sprouts, carrots, collards, kale, parsley, and spinach.

Is lettuce frost hardy?

Give plenty of ventilation during fine weather and always protect the developing plants against any hard winter frosts. Winter hardy lettuces are surprisingly strong and can survive the worst of winters but always be ready to give them a helping hand when it is necessary.

What is the hardiest lettuce to grow?

1. Mache, aka Lamb’s Lettuce or Corn Salad. Mache, which also goes by the names lamb’s lettuce or corn salad, produces tender leaves with a smooth texture. This is the hardiest salad leaf of our quartet and grows very well outdoors.

What is the fastest growing vegetable?

1. Radishes. Radishes are one of the fastest vegetables, taking just three to four weeks to reach harvest time.

What is the best tasting lettuce?

With a long, upright head of crisp, pale green leaves sporting crunchy midribs, romaine—particularly the lighter leaves toward the center (the heart)—is more flavorful than some other varieties. You can often find romaine hearts packaged in your local grocery store.

Will lettuce grow back after cutting?

Yes, lettuce leaves will grow back after cutting but only if proper care and technique are used when cutting as all vegetable lettuce follow similar annual vegetable growth cycles.

What does it mean when your lettuce bolts?

Ah lettuce; the most popular of the salad greens, offering a long season of sweet, crispy leaves. Bolting, when the plants shift from leafy growth into flower production, is caused by a number of factors including high temperatures, long daylight hours, and less moisture – in essence – summer.

Can you grow lettuce in a raised bed?

Don’t sow the seeds too deeply as they need light to germinate. Cover them with a thin layer of soil. I often sow twelve to eighteen inch wide bands of baby lettuces in my raised beds, trying to space the seeds about two inches apart. You can grow a single variety this way or buy a packet of gourmet mixed lettuces.

How do you transplant lettuce seedlings to bigger pots?

Gently dig the seedlings up from their original container using a popsicle stick, pencil or other improvised tool. Handle the seedlings only by their leaves, never by their stems. Plant them into their new containers deeper than they were growing, gently firming the growing media around their roots.

Can lettuce seedlings survive frost?

Lettuce seedlings will generally tolerate a light frost and, unlike most vegetables, continue to grow through the fall when the possibility is a probability in some regions. That said, cold, clear nights may create frost damage in lettuce, especially if the duration of the cold snap is lengthy.

Does lettuce need lots of water?

Lettuce has shallow roots, so plants need consistent watering. Check at least twice a week and water if the soil is dry down to 1 inch deep. Containers of lettuce need to be watered more frequently than garden beds, especially in the summer.

What lettuce grows well in summer?

Bibb lettuce will develop bitterness if temperatures are above 95 degrees F. Three good choices are: Buttercrunch (55-days), a small, fast-maturing, dark green bibb lettuce; Tom Thumb, (35-50-days) an easy, fast-growing miniature variety of butterhead; and Red Cross (48d), a heat- tolerant, red butterhead.

Is it too late to plant lettuce in June?

You can start replanting lettuce about 6 to 8 weeks before your first frost (for us that’s August 1 – 15). Fall planted lettuce can last unprotected in your garden until early December depending on where you live. Again you will be planting these INDOORS in your seed starter in June and moving them outside in August.