How to grow lettuce at home

Growing your own vegetables is one way to save money at the checkout, but for beginners it can be daunting and hard to know where to start. Choosing one easy-growing vegetable is the way to go, with experienced gardeners describing lettuce as so simple to plant that it’s the “gateway to home-grown”.

Just how easy is it? “If you can poke a hole in the dirt and remember to water it, you’re 90 per cent of the way there,” Darryl Nichols, Grow It Local co-founder, told nine.com.au.

Why you should grow your own lettuce

Given a lot of store-bought lettuce ends up going mushy in the bottom of the fridge, you’ll save plenty of money harvesting your own leaves fresh when you need them.

“You can get a lot of value out of one packet of seeds,” gardener Sarah Rani from In My Patch, who runs a masterclass course on growing greens, said

“You can buy a packet of seeds for [a few bucks and] some packets have about 1000 seeds in it. So if you’re thinking of that compared to buying a head of lettuce, you’re really going to get your money back.”

The taste and variety of lettuce grown at home also far surpasses what you can get at the supermarket, making your salads a lot more interesting.

To make things even easier and cost-effective, you can start with just one pot or a small section of a garden bed.

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The best time to plant lettuce in Australia

Even though it’s winter, the best time to grow it is right now for most climate zones in Australia. This is because the summer heat can make lettuce bolt and go bitter.

“You can grow it in summer, it’s just a bit trickier to keep the water up to them and to keep them a little bit more shaded. If you do opt to grow lettuce in summer, you can get heat-tolerant varieties that do better in hotter weather,” Rani explained.

“But for the most part, especially if you’re a beginner, growing in autumn, winter and spring is when you’re going to have the most success.”

Types of lettuce to grow at home

Both loose-leaf and head lettuce can be grown at home. 

The benefit of loose-leaf varieties, such as oakleaf red and coral lettuce, is they can be harvested daily, so you only take what you need when you need it.

With head lettuce, such as iceberg and cos, usually the entire head is harvested in one go.

In addition to lettuce, you can grow other green leafy vegetables during the cooler months to add to your salads and sandwiches, like spinach and rocket.

Is it better to grow lettuce from seed or seedlings?

The experts both agree seeds are the way to grow; however, Nichols admits there are a couple of advantages to seedlings.

“Seedlings are great for instant gratification or if you’re just starting out, and they’ll save you approximately four weeks too,” he said.

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But for value for money and the ability to give the seeds the ideal environment to start growing in, seeds are the best option.

“Often the seedlings we’re buying have either been in their punnets for a long time or they’re not properly acclimatised to where you’re growing them from… I find I always have the best success with seeds I’ve started myself,” Rani said.

How to grow from seed

Raising seedlings rather than directly sowing into the pot or veggie patch is the best method for lettuce.

“Lettuce seeds are tiny and can easily be washed away by rain or eaten by snails if sown directly into the garden,” Nichols warned.

When putting the seed in the potting mix be careful not to sow them too deep as they need light to germinate.

Rani has the perfect hack to ensure that they are only covered lightly with soil so they have enough light to germinate.

“You really just want to plant them like a millimetre or two under the soil. I find getting some dry potting mix in like a little sieve and just sieving a light layer of soil over the top of my seeds gives me the best germination rate,” she said.

Once your lettuce seedlings have their first true set of leaves – which is actually their second pair of leaves – they are ready to plant in a pot or garden bed.

Water requirements for lettuce

Lettuce grows best in moist but not soggy soil.

“If you’re growing in pots, check them daily; wind can dry them out faster than the sun,” Nichols said.

Rani also warned morning dew can make the soil look damper than it is, leading gardeners to assume it’s rained.

“If you dig down in your soil a little bit, you might find it’s actually quite dry. So don’t let winter dew trick you into thinking that your garden’s been watered,” she said.

Sunlight requirements for lettuce

As for light, Nichols recommends “in winter, give them all the sun you’ve got - at least five to six hours”.

However, Rani said a bit of shade is fine, so if you only have sun for brief periods it’s still worth giving lettuce a try.

“If you’ve got a shady bit in the garden, you’ll still be able to grow lettuce. I know for a lot of people, especially in the city where they’ve got a lot of buildings around them, particularly in winter, it can be hard to find a sunny spot in the garden … they should grow just fine with just a couple of hours of sun,” she explained.

Fertiliser tips

To feed your lettuce all the vital nutrients they need Rani swears by cow manure, while Nichols focuses on supplying them with nitrogen.

“A diluted liquid seaweed or fish emulsion every two weeks will keep them lush,” he said.

Harvest time

This is what you’ll have been waiting for: that moment when all your hard work has paid off and you can eat food you’ve grown yourself.

Loose-leaf lettuce will look like you’d expect when it’s ready to harvest, but for a timeline, you can start harvesting from four to six weeks. Just remove the outer leaves and take only what you need each time.

As for head lettuce, Nichols said “you’re looking at eight to 10 weeks. If the plant starts to grow tall and pointy, like a Christmas tree, harvest it immediately as it’s about to go bitter”.