Plot · field guide
How to Grow Lettuce: Cut-and-Come-Again and Heads
Lettuce is one of the fastest crops you can grow. Leaf lettuce is ready to cut in about 45 days. The mistake almost everyone makes is sowing a whole packet at once, then facing 30 heads in one week before the whole patch bolts in the first heat. The fix is small, steady sowings and knowing when to cut leaves instead of pulling a head.
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Lettuce is a cool-season crop
Lettuce grows best when days are mild, roughly 45 to 70 F. It is a spring and fall crop in most of the country, not a summer one. Sow leaf lettuce as early as 5 to 6 weeks before your last frost since young plants shrug off light cold.
Sow the seed shallow, just 0.25 inch deep. Lettuce seed needs a little light to sprout, so barely cover it. Bury it an inch down and most of it never comes up.
- Best growth is in mild weather, about 45 to 70 F.
- Sow leaf lettuce up to 5 to 6 weeks before last frost.
- Plant seed just 0.25 inch deep, barely covered.
Sow a little every 10 days
This is the trick that changes everything. Instead of one big sowing, sow a short row every 10 days. That is called succession planting, and it turns one giant harvest into a steady supply for weeks.
A 3 foot row sown every 10 days keeps two people in salad without any waste. Leaf lettuce is built for this because it matures in about 45 days, so a new batch is always coming up behind the one you are eating.
- Sow a short new row every 10 days.
- Leaf lettuce is ready in about 45 days.
- A 3 foot row per sowing feeds two people at a time.
Leaf lettuce vs head lettuce
Leaf lettuce (like Salad Bowl) grows loose leaves you cut as you go. Space plants 6 inches apart in rows 12 inches apart. It is the most forgiving and the fastest, ready in about 45 days.
Head lettuce needs more room and more time. Romaine forms an upright head in about 55 days and wants 10 inches between plants. A tight butterhead or crisphead takes about 65 days. Heads give you a clean, single harvest, but you only cut once. For a beginner, start with leaf lettuce and add heads later.
- Leaf lettuce: 6 inches apart, about 45 days, cut as you go.
- Romaine: 10 inches apart, about 55 days, one head each.
- Head lettuce: 10 inches apart, about 65 days, one clean cut.
Harvest the outer leaves first
With leaf lettuce, do not pull the whole plant. Snap off the outer leaves and leave the center growing. The plant keeps making new leaves from the middle, so one plant feeds you for weeks. That is the cut-and-come-again method.
For romaine and head lettuce, cut the whole head at the base once it feels firm and full. You get one harvest per plant, which is why the small, steady sowings above matter so much.
- Leaf lettuce: pick outer leaves, leave the center to regrow.
- One leaf plant can feed you for weeks this way.
- Heads: cut the whole plant once at the base when firm.
Beat the heat before it bolts
When it turns hot, lettuce bolts. It shoots up a tall stalk, stops making tender leaves, and turns bitter. Once a plant bolts, it is done for salad. In warm weather lettuce can bolt in just a few weeks.
You cannot un-bolt a plant, so you plan around it. Give lettuce afternoon shade in late spring, keep the soil moist and cool with water, and pick bolt-resistant types for your last spring sowing. Then pause through the peak of summer and start again for a fall crop.
- Heat makes lettuce bolt, turn bitter, and quit.
- Use afternoon shade and steady water to buy time.
- Pause in peak summer, then sow again for fall.
Questions, answered straight
Leaf lettuce is ready in about 45 days. Romaine takes about 55 days and a tight head lettuce about 65 days. Leaf is the fastest and the most forgiving, so it is the best place to start.
Sow a short row every 10 days instead of one big planting. This is succession planting. Because leaf lettuce matures in about 45 days, a fresh batch is always coming up behind the one you are eating.
For leaf lettuce, snap off the outer leaves and leave the center to keep growing. One plant can feed you for weeks. For romaine and head lettuce, cut the whole head at the base in one harvest when it feels firm.
It bolted from heat. When the weather warms up, lettuce sends up a tall stalk, stops making tender leaves, and turns bitter within a few weeks. Use shade and steady water in late spring, then wait and sow again for fall.