Quick Garden Tips
- Easy to grow. Matures quickly. Great for early season and replanting throughout the season. Great for beginning gardeners.
- Lettuce grows best in cool temperatures. In hot weather (above 80 degrees F), lettuce plants may send up a flowering stalk. This is known as bolting. Once lettuce bolts, it tastes bitter and is not good for eating. If your lettuce bolts, you can collect the seed and plant it next year.
- Prefers well-drained, cool, loose soil. Seed can be saved for 1 year.
Season and Location
- Spring or fall if sunny, summer if cloudy
Container Gardening
- Leaf lettuce can be grown in a small, medium, or large container.
- Plants need about 4" of space around them.
- Make sure your container has small holes near the bottom to allow water to drain from the soil. Otherwise, roots may become water-logged.
Key Pests and Diseases
- Slugs, aphids, damping off (a disease that affects seedlings)
When to Plant and Harvest Salad Greens in Oregon
- Central and Eastern: Plant seeds from April through May to harvest from May through June.
- Willamette Valley: Plant seeds from April through October to harvest from April through October.
- Coast: Plant seeds from February through July to harvest from February through July.
Recommended Types to Grow
- Red Leaf: Merlot, New Red Fire, Prizehead, Red Sails, Red Tide, Redina
- Oak Leaf: Blade, Cocarde, Mascara, Oaky Red Splash
- Oak leaf types are good for winter gardens.
- Green Leaf: Grand Rapids, Pom Pom, Salad Bowl, Slobolt
When and How to Harvest
- Harvest well before the plant bolts. Harvest baby lettuce when leaves are small and tender.
- For a few leaves (e.g., for a sandwich), snip a few outer leaves about 1 inch from the base of the plant. Center leaves will keep growing.
- For more lettuce (e.g., for a salad), harvest by pulling the plant up by the roots.
How to Prepare
- Cut off roots and wash leaves thoroughly in cold water.
- Try this Food Hero recipe: Turkey Ginger Rice Lettuce Wrap