Vegetables · annual

Lettuce from seed

Lactuca sativa · also searched as salad vegetable seeds, salad greens, leaf lettuce

Germination temperature: 60 to 75°F (16 to 24°C)
Minimum soil temperature: 32°F (0°C)
Sowing depth: ¼ in (6 mm), barely covered
Days to germinate: 4 to 14 days
Light: Needs light: press onto the surface
Before sowing: Nothing needed
Start indoors: 4 to 6 weeks before planting out
Plant out: 4 weeks before the last frost
Sow outdoors: 4 to 0 weeks before the last frost
Spacing: 7 to 9 in (18 to 23 cm) for leaf lettuce

Your dates from your last frost Seed not coming up?

Sowing

Lettuce likes light to germinate, so press it into the surface and cover only a little. Sow direct from 4 weeks before the last frost, or start indoors and transplant. In summer, sow in shade or chill the seed first.

Care and transplanting

Keep moist, thin to the final spacing and harvest outer leaves. Sow every two weeks for a steady supply.

Problems

Seed sown into hot soil does not come up; sow in the cool of the evening or in shade. Bolting is heat and long days. Bitter leaves are heat and dry soil.

Saving seed

Let one plant bolt and flower; collect the fluffy seed heads when dry. Lettuce mostly self-pollinates.