From sowing to harvest

The lettuce in the profile

• Botanical name: Lactuca sativa var. capitata L.
• Varieties: about 30 different ones available in Germany
• Development time: 60 to 120 days
• Location: full sun
• Shape: firm, rounded head
• Leaves: Mostly light green, some varieties reddish
• Flower: Aster family, aster-like, yellow or purple
• Winter hardiness: there are hardy varieties

Prefer lettuce

If you want to harvest lettuce as early as possible, you can prefer it at home from the end of January. The lettuce germinates best at temperatures between 15 and 20 degrees, so a location on the windowsill of a cooler room is advisable. Do not plant more than two seeds per seed tray so that you can prick them out easily later. The following are instructions for successful cultivation:

• Put the seeds 0.5cm deep in the soil and cover them lightly.
• Water thoroughly and make sure that the substrate never dries out over the next few days and weeks.
• Make your Growing trays in a light, approx. 18 ° C warm location without drafts.
• When ground frost is no longer to be expected, you can plant your lettuce outdoors.

The ideal location for the lettuce

Lettuce should be as sunny as possible. In the sun it not only thrives faster and more vigorously, the nitrate content also drops. Lettuce also likes a loose, humus-rich soil. Therefore, before planting or sowing, you should dig up the soil and add a generous portion of compost.

Sow or plant lettuce outdoors

So that the lettuce has enough space to grow, you should keep a planting distance of at least 25cm, for large varieties also 30cm. If you wanted to save yourself the pricking out, you can keep this planting distance even with direct sowing. Otherwise it will be pricked out as soon as the plants are a few centimeters tall. You can find out more about the ideal plant spacing and advantageous plant neighbors here.

Maintaining lettuce in the garden

Especially right after the sowing respectively. When planting out, make sure that there is sufficient watering; But even later, lettuce should be watered regularly. Fertilize may not be necessary, but if you feel your lettuce is lacking in nutrients, you can treat it to some compost. If you have grown late varieties, you should protect the heads of lettuce from frost with a fleece during the colder months of the year.

Pests that threaten the lettuce

Snails love lettuce. Unfortunately, this is not a cliché, but a reality. If you are struggling with snails in your garden, it can make sense to put up a snail fence or something similar. Cultivation in raised beds also prevents snail infestation.
Aphids also like lettuce. These can be combated in an environmentally friendly way with nettle stock.

Harvest lettuce

Once the lettuce has reached the desired size, it should be harvested. The harvest time is 60 to 120 days after sowing, depending on the variety. here you will find an overview of the most important varieties and their sowing and harvesting dates.