Do you prefer romaine lettuce or do you like iceberg lettuce more? Regardless of which variety you choose, it is a robust vegetable that grows well in almost any region. You should start planting indoors and plant the vegetable immediately after the first frost; with any luck, you can make yourself a salad with exquisite home-grown lettuce as early as early summer. Read on to learn how to proceed.
Steps
Method 1 of 2: Grow Head Lettuce
Step 1. Choose this strain for indoor growing
This type of lettuce takes a long time to mature. If you start germinating indoors, the plant grows with a little time advantage thanks to early sowing and therefore enjoys a longer growing season. Roman and iceberg varieties are two common types of head lettuce.
- If you want to plant broadleaf lettuce, skip to this section directly.
- If you decide to plant your vegetables in late spring or summer, you need to choose a heat-resistant variety, such as Jericho; this is a very important detail if you live in a warm climate.
Step 2. Prepare the trays for planting
You can start growing your own salad by purchasing commercial seedbeds or making them yourself from an old egg carton, box, or even newspaper. Fill the trays with soilless germination material, leaving about 1.5 cm from the edge, and wet the substrate to prepare it for planting.
- The seeds already contain all the nutrients needed to germinate, so this type of material is sufficient, which you can buy at nurseries or prepare yourself by mixing equal parts vermiculite, perlite and ground peat.
- Since the seeds will have to be transferred to the soil once they have germinated, the aesthetic aspect of the trays is not important but rather their functionality.
Step 3. Plant the seeds 4-6 weeks before the last spring frost
This way, they have time to germinate and sprout before the soil is soft enough to accommodate them; scatter them evenly in the different trays of the seedbed and use your fingers to gently press them into the substrate.
Step 4. Leave them in full sun and wet them a lot
Put the trays in front of a window in the sun and always keep the soil moist; if you let it dry, the seeds are unable to grow.
- You can cover the seedbed with a few sheets of newspaper during the first week or so, until the seeds develop the first shoots; keep the paper constantly moist and remove it when you notice the green filaments.
- Do not over-wet the seeds; if they are too soaked they cannot grow.
Step 5. Transfer the seedlings to the garden
You cannot transplant them outside for two weeks after the expected date of the last spring frost. Dig holes in rows, spacing them about 40 cm, making sure they are deep enough to insert the root system. Lift the shoots from the seedbed and place them in the holes in the ground; gently tap the earth around the roots to keep the shoots upright and make sure they are at the same depth as they were buried in the seedbed. Don't forget to wet them carefully.
- For better results, you can preventively strengthen the seedlings by placing the sowing tray in an external area that is protected from atmospheric agents; leave them out for two or three days, increasing the duration of exposure each day.
- You can continue to grow them indoors and transplant them outdoors during the growing season; choose a heat resistant variety if you decide to plant them in the summer.
- Use a watering can or garden hose with a spray diffuser to wet the lettuce garden; be careful not to soak the seedlings too much, just wet the soil.
Step 6. Fertilize the vegetables three weeks after transplanting them outdoors
Use a slurry of alfalfa or nitrogen-rich slow-release fertilizer, which allows the vegetables to grow strong and quickly.
Step 7. Cut off the ripe leaves
When they appear ripe enough to eat and look like the ones you buy in the store, you can cut them with a gardening knife or scissors. After a few weeks, when the vegetable is ripe, you can cut the entire head from the ground; if you leave it in the garden, it eventually deteriorates.
- Collect the leaves in the morning, as they become crunchy overnight and this texture remains in the early hours of the day.
- Lettuce begins to "go to seed" when the weather is warm towards the end of the growing season and begins to develop seeds, taking on a bitter taste. You can prevent this phenomenon from occurring by squeezing the central part of the plant; if this also happens with one of your plants, remove it and start over.
Step 8. Store the crop in the refrigerator
If you don't eat the salad right away, you can keep it cool; if you put it in a plastic bag wrapped in some paper towels, it can last up to ten days.
Method 2 of 2: Grow Broad Leaf Lettuce
Step 1. Choose broad-leaved varieties for outdoor growing
These cultivars have bright colors and are rich in nutrients; you can often see them on sale with the words "spring mix". They are types of lettuce that tolerate warmer temperatures and shorter growing seasons than other varieties, so you can plant them directly outdoors.
- On the other hand, the head lettuce is usually planted indoors.
- The hot weather conditions cause the lettuce to "go to seed", blocking the growth of the leaves and developing a more bitter taste. In hot climates such as those of southern Italy or in the height of summer, it is necessary to plant this vegetable as soon as possible or to choose varieties that are resistant to heat.
Step 2. Prepare the ground
You need to plan sowing as soon as it is possible to work the soil. Choose an area where the soil is well-draining and in full sun. Use a garden roller or spade to break up sod and remove rocks, branches and roots from the area you want to grow.
- Lettuce is hardy, but there are some conditions that don't allow it to grow properly; make sure the soil is not too waterlogged and has a high nitrogen level.
- Also check that it is very rich in humus. Talk to a local nursery expert to find ways to enrich the soil in your specific region for a gorgeous lettuce crop.
Step 3. Fertilize the garden
Mix some compost or a well-balanced fertilizer into the soil a week before burying the seedlings; in addition, you can add a very nitrogenous fertilizer around the plants after about three weeks, when the leaves reach 10 cm in width.
Step 4. Spread the seeds
This vegetable is cold-hardy, so you can plant the seeds directly in the ground about two weeks before the last expected frost in spring or up to six weeks earlier, as long as you protect them with a greenhouse or frame. Spread them on the plowed soil and cover them with a 15mm layer of potting soil. One package should be sufficient for about 30 m of garden; water the area thoroughly immediately after planting the seeds.
Sow several rows at one to two week intervals to harvest lettuce throughout the season. Remember that most varieties of this vegetable do not develop well in very hot climates, so the season for the last planting depends on the region you live in and the needs of the cultivar. For best results, grow heat-resistant varieties or plant the last few rows in a shaded area
Step 5. Water the lettuce
If the leaves appear to have withered, they need water; lightly water the vegetable every day and whenever you feel the leaves are a little wilted.
Step 6. Cut off the ripe leaves
When harvesting broadleaf lettuce, use a pair of scissors or a knife to peel off the ripened part without damaging the rest of the plant. You can start as soon as the vegetable reaches the size of those you find in the supermarket; after a few weeks remove the whole plant, otherwise it "goes to seed" and acquires a too bitter taste.
- Harvest lettuce early in the morning for crunchy leaves.
- Pinch off the center of the plant to extend the harvest season.
- Store the leaves in the refrigerator for up to 10 days by keeping them in a plastic bag with a couple of sheets of kitchen paper.
Advice
- For a steady harvest of lettuce, plant a new set of rows every week.
- Always walk around to the cultivated area, especially if you have created a raised vegetable garden. Lettuce needs a loose and aerated soil; if you step on the sown area, you compact the soil and there is less chance that the seedlings will germinate and grow.
- If you wish, you can label the place where you planted the lettuce and indicate the date as well.
- To get an interesting variation, mix different types and colors of lettuce seeds in a single package and seed them in a single row; you should get a homemade mix of vegetables that you can cut already 4 weeks after planting them and get a tender and beautiful salad.
- If you are growing more than 30 linear meters of salad at a time, this method can be ineffective and physically tiring; if you are working on a large scale, it is worth investing in a commercial planter, which can perform all these steps in less time and with less physical effort.
- Buy pelleted seeds, as they are easier to handle and plant.
- In cold climates, you can plant lettuce late in the growing season; this vegetable generally prefers cool weather, so there is no problem as long as it ripens before the initial frosts can kill it. You can possibly make a kind of greenhouse to protect it during growth in the winter.
Warnings
- Always wash your lettuce before eating it, especially if you've used insecticides or chemical fertilizers. You should avoid using these products and instead carefully remove weeds and insects by hand, as well as using compost and manure to fertilize; in this way, it benefits your health and also the soil.
- Don't neglect weeds, or you may unintentionally find them on your plate with your salad.
