Growing Lettuce

lactuca sativa : Asteraceae / the daisy family

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

(Best months for growing Lettuce in Australia - sub-tropical regions)

S = Plant undercover in seed trays
T = Plant out (transplant) seedlings
P = Sow seed

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 (can grow beside): Carrots, Onions, Strawberries, Beets, Brassicas, Radish, Marigold, Borage, Chervil, Florence fennel, leeks.
Avoid growing close to: Parsley, Celery

Your comments and tips

21 May 18, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Is it White Boston? If so The Seed Collection Company on the internet have it $1 for 200 seeds- but out of stock at the moment. You could try other seed selling companies on the net.
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03 Jun 18, Andrew (Australia - temperate climate): Not sure if it qualifies as lettuce, but wombok?
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05 Sep 18, Jane (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Andrew - I believe Wombok is Chinese 'cabbage' and that: 1. there are different types of Wombok 2. Cabbage is a brassica Is lettuce a brassica? I thought not but I could be wrong. - Jane
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04 Jun 18, Liz (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate): This is the page you need www.gardenate.com/plant/Chinese%2Bcabbage
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04 Apr 18, Eugenia Wen (Australia - temperate climate): I have a question is that my letuce will not grow and it always is dying I always follow the step of growning a good letucd but is always dies please help Eugenia
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05 Sep 18, Jane (Australia - sub-tropical climate): Eugenia - What I have found (so far) is that older types of lettuce have grown better where I am where-as the softer leaf ones struggle. A purple coloured one died. I am trying butter crunch, and all seasons lettuce at present although our climates are different. I have drought. You have heavy rains. Not sure any of this will help. You could try different types of lettuce and see what happens.
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15 Oct 17, Garvin Johny (USA - Zone 11b climate): I'm growing COS lettuce in the Caribbean where it hot and humid most of the year but according to Gardenate lettuce is not suitable for my climate.
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15 Oct 17, Mike (Australia - sub-tropical climate): "The Caribbean's littlest islands follow a typically Caribbean weather pattern, with December to April the peak months (drier, cooler, less humid) – and September to October the most prolific for hurricanes, with rains starting in June". Dec to April might be the time to grow things - drier cooler less humid.
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15 Oct 17, Liz (New Zealand - sub-tropical climate): Gardenate is a 'guide' not hard and fast rules. Your microclimate obviously suits cos lettuce. By the way, we have not included inforamtion for the Caribbean because we do not have enough information about the climate.
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02 Jun 17, Les (Australia - sub-tropical climate): I bought a lettuce called Cherokee from the Farmers' Market that was almost black. It had a good taste but I can't find anywhere that sells the seeds and the seller has not been back to the market since. Has anyone heard of this lettuce or knows where to buy the seeds?
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Most clear plastic is considered direct sunlight - unless there are special filters in the plastic. That is to say, if the only thing between your lettuce and the sun is regular clear plastic, you should be fine. As and FYI there are multiple categories: 1. Direct sunlight - some plants require direct sunlight on their leaves 2. BRIGHT shade; for example when I lived in a Condo, my balcony had no direct sunlight, but because the buildings beside my building had huge glass windows I had VERY bright shade and could grow most full sun potted plants. This also applies to living near the water, where the sun gets reflected-- MOST full sun plants are fine with REFLECTED light but not all. This could also be a a very sunny field, with shade cast from one building, chances are good that would be very bright shade 3. Sun/Shade with all its variations 4. Light shade and 5. Deep shade like the middle of a dense forest. I see no reason why you could not grow SOME of your veggies in the bright shade. I find that many plants labelled full sun, are not. For example: strawberries are generally labelled full sun. However, strawberries TEND to grow naturally in the shade of other plants: woodland or forest floor, in meadows shaded by other plants. I've noticed that any of my strawberries that get full sun tend to have burnt leaves, and the best yielding strawberry plants are in a cool predominately shady areas. I suspect that planting your plants that tend to bolt in a cooler shadier area would be very helpful. I've even grown cherry tomatoes in very bright shade with great success.

- Celeste Archer

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lactuca sativa : Asteraceae / the daisy family

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