How to Grow Lettuce

There are two main types of lettuce – hearting or heading Lettuce and loose-leaf Lettuce. 

Lettuce varieties such as iceberg and mignonette form heads in the centre of the plant. The head can be loose, such as mignonette, or tight, such as iceberg. The whole Lettuce plant can be picked at once. Cos Lettuce forms an upright, tall loose head. Entire cos Lettuce can be picked, or just individual leaves.  

Loose-leaf Lettuces usually don’t form a central head. Individual leaves can be picked as you need them, leaving the remainder of the plant to continue to grow. It’s best to pick the outer leaves first. Loose-leaf Lettuces help spread the harvest out over several weeks.

Choose a spot in the garden with well-drained soil. Different Lettuce varieties will tolerate different amounts of sunlight. Most Lettuce need to be grown in full sun (at least six hours of sunshine a day). However, some types of Lettuce, such as Yates Lettuce Baby Combo, will tolerate a partly shaded position. Check the seed packet of your chosen Lettuce to see how much sunlight it prefers.

Improving the soil before sowing seed will give the plants a great start. Soil improvement is as simple as mixing two handfuls of Yates Dynamic Lifter Soil Improver & Plant Fertiliser into each square metre of soil.

Check the packet of your chosen Lettuce to see the best sowing time for your area.  

Lettuce seeds are tiny and only need to be sown 3 mm deep. Don’t sow them any deeper, otherwise they won’t be able to grow.  Sow a few seeds directly into each planting hole and lightly cover with soil. You can also raise your own seedlings in trays of Yates Seed Raising Mix and transplant the seedlings into their final position when they’re 3-4 cm high. For Yates Lettuce Baby Combo, it is best to sow seed direct where you want the plants to grow, rather than growing seedlings first.  

Keep the soil moist and seedlings will emerge in 4-10 days.  

It’s important to keep the soil moist, otherwise Lettuce can develop a bitter taste. Feed the plants each week with Yates Thrive Vegie & Herb Liquid Plant Food. This will help promote healthy, fast and tender growth. Applying mulch, like sugarcane or pea straw, around the base of the plants will help keep the soil moist.  

Snails and Slugs are one of the biggest problems for young Lettuce seedlings, particularly during damp weather. Protect seedlings from Snails and Slugs with a light sprinkling of Yates Snail & Slug Bait.

For hearting Lettuce, pick the entire plant once the head is firm. For loose-leaf Lettuce, you can start picking individual leaves from just six weeks after sowing. Avoid picking more than half the leaves at any one time.  

Make successive sowings every few weeks to give you an ongoing supply of Lettuce plants.  

Most Lettuces can be grown in a pot, however check that your variety is suitable. Choose a pot at least 30 cm in diameter with good drainage holes.

Different Lettuce varieties will tolerate different amounts of sunlight. Most Lettuce need to be grown in full sun (at least six hours of sunshine a day). However, some types of Lettuce, such as Yates Lettuce Baby Combo, will tolerate a partly shaded position. Check the seed packet of your chosen Lettuce to see how much sunlight it prefers and position the pot in full sun or part shade.  

Fill the pot with quality potting mix, such as Yates Premium Potting Mix with Dynamic Lifter and water well to moisten the mix. 

Check the packet of your chosen Lettuce to see the best sowing time for your area.  

Lettuce seeds are tiny and only need to be sown 3 mm deep. Don’t sow them any deeper, otherwise they won’t be able to grow.  Sow a few seeds directly into each planting hole and lightly cover with potting mix. You can also raise your own seedlings in trays of Yates Seed Raising Mix and transplant the seedlings into their final position when they’re 3-4 cm high. For Yates Lettuce Baby Combo, it is best to sow seed direct where you want the plants to grow, rather than growing seedlings first.  

Keep the potting mix moist and seedlings will emerge in 4-10 days.  

It’s important to keep the potting mix moist, otherwise Lettuce can develop a bitter taste. Feed the plants each week with Yates Thrive Vegie & Herb Liquid Plant Food. This will help promote healthy, fast and tender growth. Applying mulch, like sugarcane or pea straw, around the base of the plants will help keep the soil moist.  

Snails and Slugs are one of the biggest problems for young Lettuce seedlings, particularly during damp weather. Protect seedlings from Snails and Slugs with a light sprinkling of Yates Snail & Slug Bait. 

For hearting Lettuce, pick the entire plant once the head is firm. For loose-leaf Lettuce, you can start picking individual leaves from just six weeks after sowing. Avoid picking more than half the leaves at any one time.  

Make successive sowings every few weeks to give you an ongoing supply of  Lettuce plants.

Aphids and Whiteflies are small sap-sucking insects that can cause Lettuce leaves to yellow or distort. These insects can also transmit damaging plant viruses.

Another common sap-sucking pest of Lettuce is Thrips. Symptoms of Thrips' damage on Lettuce leaves are tiny brown dead spots, silvery leaves, and black sticky blobs. 

Mites may also be the culprit. These are very tiny sap-sucking pests that cause brown or silvery speckled leaves, and the underside of the leaf may look dusty. Large populations of Mites can also develop masses of fine webbing.

As soon as Aphids, Whiteflies, Thrips or Mites are noticed, spray plants thoroughly every 5-7 days with Yates Nature's Way Vegie & Herb Spray. It's important to spray both sides of the foliage, as pests commonly hide on the undersides of leaves. 

The top three chewing pests that eat holes in the leaves of Lettuce are Caterpillars, Snails, and Slugs.

There are several types of Caterpillars that attack Lettuces. As soon as Caterpillars (or their damage and droppings) are noticed, spray plants every 7-14 days with Yates Success Ultra.

Squiggly lines on lettuce leaves are caused by the larvae of Leaf Miner. These larvae or Caterpillars feed on the inside of the leaf, so most pesticides do not affect them. The best thing to do is to pick the infected leaves as you see them.

Lettuces can be a magnet for Snails and Slugs. They chew through leaves and are particularly common during damp or humid weather. To protect Lettuces from Snails and Slugs, lightly scatter Yates Snail & Slug Bait around the plants, including new seedlings, which are particularly vulnerable.

Lettuce are prone to diseases like Mildews and Leaf Spots, which can begin as leaves yellowing or brown spots appearing on leaves. To help reduce the incidence of diseases, grow Lettuces in an airy sunny position in well-drained soil or potting mix. Also, water plants around the roots rather than over the leaves as wet foliage can promote diseases.

Applying mulch around the base of plants will keep leaves off the soil and help reduce diseases spreading. At the first sign of disease (Septoria Leaf Spot, Anthracnose, and Downy Mildew only) spray plants with Yates Mancozeb Plus Garden Fungicide & Miticide every 7-10 days. 

Lettuces need lots of water and nutrients to promote lush healthy green leaf growth. Ensure that the soil or potting mix is kept moist and feed Lettuces each week with a fast acting liquid fertiliser like Yates Thrive Vegie & Herb Liquid Plant Food. Well-fed and watered Lettuces will also promote quicker growth, which is more tender and sweet.

There are a few reasons why lettuce is not ‘hearting-up’ properly, including temperature, soil, nutrients and watering issues. 

Many Lettuces can be grown all year round, however, they are more prone to bolting (going to seed) in summer, when it can be hot and dry. Ensure your Lettuce plants are well watered – you may need to check on them every morning and afternoon in hot weather. Lettuce loves good soil, so always plant Lettuce seedling in quality soil and feed regularly. 

Lettuces growing tall is an indication that the plant is beginning to flower and set seed, and is nearing the end of its life cycle. Consistent watering and feeding with Yates Thrive Vegie & Herb Liquid Plant Food helps delay this happening and prolongs the harvest. Regular picking of the leaves of loose-leaf Lettuce varieties can also help delay the process.

When the weather is cool and the soil is wet, this can cause the cells in the leaves to burst. This is a condition known as Oedema. The only way to overcome this is to improve availability of light, avoid over-watering and hope for warmer weather.

After Lettuces, a legume vegetable such as Peas or Beans (depending on the season) can be grown. Legumes help replenish the soil with organic nitrogen. Otherwise, most other vegetables or herbs can be grown after Lettuce. 

Different varieties of Lettuce are suitable for growing in Australia at different times of the year. Many Lettuces can be grown year-round, however some are suited to growing in the warmer months, others to cooler months. Check the seed packets of your chosen Lettuce variety for the best sowing and growing time in your area.  

You may have seen people trying to regrow Lettuce stems in a glass of water. Although some small leaves may regrow from the cut stem or stump of a Lettuce, it will not be particularly productive. It is best to start new Lettuce plants from seed.