Garden calendar for the kitchen garden - vegetables and herbs. See what to plant right now and for next month.

Growing Lettuce

(lactuca sativa)

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P

(Best months for planting Lettuce in Australia - temperate regions)

P = Plant direct in garden where they are to grow.

Easy to grow. Sow in garden, or start in seed trays and plant out in 4-6 weeks.. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 8°C and 27°C. (Show °F/in)
Space plants: 20 - 30 cm apart
Harvest in 8-12 weeks.
Compatible with: Carrots, Onions, Strawberries, Beets, Brassicas, Radish, Marigold, Borage, Chervil, Florence fennel, leeks.
Avoid growing with: Parsley, Celery

Lettuce seedlings
Lettuce table-ready

Lettuce offer a range of shapes, sizes and colours but they are all easy to grow. Choose a variety marked on the seed packet as suitable for the time of year as some do badly in the very hot months. Try to provide some shade to prevent them 'bolting' to flower and seed in the hottest months.

Sow in rows and use thinnings as small salad greens

Lettuce are shallow rooted so water daily in hot or dry weather to prevent bitter flavour. and bolting.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Lettuce

Wash well, spin or shake dry and use in salads and sandwiches

Your comments and tips

13 Jan 12, Narelle (Australia - temperate climate): I cannot get lettuce seeds to germinate for love or money. I've even tried leaving them on top of the soil/potting mix/seed raising mix without success. I've tried them in a propagator and I've tried them in the open, I've tried them in every single season. What am I doing wrong?
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29 Jan 12, Kate (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Hi! I have found the perfect way to germinate vege & fruit seeds at 100% germination rate. This can be used for all seeds. You'll need: * papertowel - cut it so it can fold in half and fit into a ziplock bag * water * seeds * ziplock bag - wet a papertowel - wring it out so it is just damp - put seeds on one half of the papertowel - fold the papertowel in half so it covers the seeds - put the seeds/papertowel into your ziplock bag -lock the bag - write on the bag what seeds you have in it - now... hang your ziplock bag outside undercover (i use an underwear clothes hangy thing. I can hang upto 20 seed bags at once on the hangy thing. your seed will germinate in half the time of that it states on the packet. You will have to remove them and put them into seedling pots to grow bigger before transplanting them out. Good luck!
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26 Jan 12, Trev (Australia - temperate climate): During germination you may need to keep them iout of sunlight. I start mine in the shade completely. They only need water to get started. You can start giving them some sun when the leaves appear.
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19 Jan 12, rob (Australia - temperate climate): the only thing that i can think of is the amount of sun that the beds are getting and the seeds need to be kept moist to germinate
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30 Dec 11, tammy (Australia - cool/mountain climate): I have grown letuces for the first time and they are growing really well BUT each lettuce has 2 or 3 heads on it. There is the main one in the middle and they all either have another one or 2 heads growing off the side. they are beautiful and firm. IS THIS NORMAL, i have really good brown dirt in yard and added a bag of organic animal manure to soil 2 weeks before planting.
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04 Dec 11, Simon Adelaide Hills (Australia - temperate climate): I have planted Cos lettuce for the past two years while they grow well they do not seen to develop a good heart. They are in good sun for 3/4 of the day in well draining soil. The soil was prepared with home compost and pea strall, any thoughts please
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12 Dec 11, Randy (Australia - temperate climate): Cos lettuce don't develop a heart like eg iceberg lettuce. Just keep taking leaves from the outside as it continues to grow.
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27 Nov 11, katy (Australia - cool/mountain climate): Hi, I planted 4 lettuces 9 weeks ago and they have grown into great little bunches. I pulled some of the other day to put in a sandwich and it was terrible bittery....help!! they are only planted next to tomatoes..
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13 Dec 11, Tracey (Australia - temperate climate): Hi Katy 9 weeks is a long time for them to only produce little bunches. For mild sweet flavour lettuce need to be grown fast - that is, plenty of water and plenty of available nutrients in the soil, including plenty of available nitrogen. Otherwise they can be quite bitter. Is it possible they got too dry or that the soil was not amended before they went in? Fortnightly feeding with something like worm tea can help if you're growing in containers or still building up your soil. Lettuce also tends to become bitter if it is going to seed, but if that's the problem you would be able to see the central flower stalk forming.
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13 Aug 11, Glenn (Australia - arid climate): I am trying to identify which lettuces handle the heat better than others. We live in outback SA but we have plenty of water and I can erect shade, but I can't do much about the heat. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
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See planting calendar for these countries and climate zones

Australia - arid, Australia - cool/mountain, Australia - sub-tropical, Australia - temperate, Australia - tropical, New Zealand - cool/mountain, New Zealand - sub-tropical, New Zealand - temperate, South Africa - Dry summer sub-tropical, South Africa - Humid sub-tropical, South Africa - Semi-arid, South Africa - Summer rainfall, United Kingdom - cool/temperate, United Kingdom - warm/temperate, USA - Central West Coast, USA - Maritime Northwest, USA - Mid-Atlantic, USA - North East, USA - South East and Gulf States, USA - South West, USA - Upper Midwest

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This planting guide is a general reference intended for home gardeners. We recommend that you take into account your local conditions in making planting decisions. Gardenate is not a farming or commercial advisory service. For specific advice, please contact your local plant suppliers, gardening groups, or agricultural department. The information on this site is presented in good faith, but we take no responsibility as to the accuracy of the information provided.

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