How to grow lettuce in a garden
Growing your own lettuce will give you salad in a flash! You can be picking young lettuce leaves in just a few weeks. You can grow them in your garden, patio, or even balcony – they’re small plants, so they’re perfect for containers.
How to grow lettuce in a garden
- Choose a spot in your garden that sits in full sun and enrich the soil with Yates Thrive Natural Blood & Bone with Seaweed.
- Lettuce seeds are very tiny and only need to be sown 3mm deep. Don’t show them any deeper, otherwise, they won’t be able to grow. Sow a few seeds directly into each planting hole and lightly cover them with soil. You can also raise in trays of Yates Black Magic Seed Raising Mix and transplant when 3-4cm high.
- Once seedlings appear, feed weekly with Yates Thrive Natural Fish Seaweed+ Plant Food Concentrate. Mulch around the base with organic mulch like pea or lucerne straw.
- Water regularly to keep the soil moist, otherwise, lettuce can be bitter tasting.
- Make successive sowings every few weeks to extend your harvest window and snip or pick outer leaves often to encourage more growth.
Watch this video to see how to grow lettuce in the garden
How to grow lettuce in a pot
- Choose a pot at least 200mm and position it in full sun. Fill with quality potting mix, such as Yates Premium Potting Mix.
- Sow a few seeds directly into each planting hole and lightly cover them with soil. You can also raise in trays of Yates Black Magic Seed Raising Mix and transplant when 3-4cm high.
- Once seedlings appear, feed weekly with Yates Thrive Natural Fish Seaweed+ Plant Food Concentrate.
- Water regularly to keep the soil moist, otherwise, lettuce can be bitter tasting.
- Make successive sowings every few weeks to extend your harvest window and snip or pick outer leaves often to encourage more growth.
Growing tips
Lettuce seeds can be sown straight into the garden (or pots) or you can start them off in trays or punnets first.
Keep the seeds moist while they germinate and start to grow. They also like to be kept moist, so water them well, especially on warm days.
The quicker lettuce grows, the more tender and sweet it is! This means it’s important to feed lettuce plants every week with a fast-acting liquid fertilizer like Yates Thrive Natural Fish Seaweed+ Plant Food Concentrate, which helps lettuces grow lots of lovely leaves.
You don’t need to pick the whole lettuce. You can pick off some of the outer leaves as you need them, remembering to break the leaves off near the base. Picking these leaves also helps to keep the lettuce growing for longer.
Water at the soil level, rather than overhead, to minimize the risk of disease.
