I am afraid I am a bit of a traditionalist but I am sure I’m not alone when, if I’m preparing a salad, it usually starts with ‘take one lettuce‘!
Lettuces are easy to grow and are tolerant of a little frost so they can be grown from March to October without the need for a greenhouse or polytunnel. They are quick to mature and they can be eaten at every stage so you don’t even have to wait for them to mature before you eat them.
Of course, lettuce are readily available in shops and, if you are really short of space and time I think it is best to forget about growing lettuce and grow some spicy salad leaves instead to add some zing to your shop-bought lettuce. Oriental mustards, cress, herbs and rocket are simple to sow and grow and you can buy mixed seed of salad leaves to grow and add to your bland ‘Icebergs’.
But, getting back to our lettuce. Lettuce grow in most soils. If you are growing in the garden then a rich soil, enhanced with organic matter is best. They are tastiest when grown quickly in rich, moist soil. But you can grow them in pots of multipurpose compost too. They do prefer a soil that has some lime, to avoid the problem of leaf tip burn, where the edges of the leaves die and go brown or black, which is also caused by lack of water.
There are different types of lettuce. When I was at school and worked at Meyers in Oxted high street, the only lettuce you could buy were ‘Butterheads‘, still widely available, with their soft leaves and pale centre. It was these that put me off lettuce! At home we grew ‘Webb’s Wonderful’ the precursor to ‘Iceberg’, the archetypal ‘Crisphead‘ – and who doesn’t like those! As I learned more I developed a fondness for ‘Cos‘ lettuce with their upright, crunchy leaves – the type you need for a Caesar salad. And then there are the non-hearting lettuce from which you pick leaves as you want, such as ‘Lollo Rosso, and frilly-leaved’, rather coarse Batavian types,
Browse the shelves of seeds at Nags Hall and you will find them all. You can sow the seeds direct in the garden but at this time of year it is best to sow them in trays of compost inside. Sow thinly and keep them cool – the seeds will not germinate if too hot and 18-20c is perfect.
Once they are big enough to handle, carefully transplant them into cell trays and grow on in cool, bright conditions.
With so much choice, what should you grow if you are starting off? Well you can save all the hassle of sowing if you buy a pack of lettuce seedlings. The most difficult part of growing lettuce is avoiding gluts and famines and you only need to grow a few at a time. Unless you eat a lot of lettuce you won’t need more than five a week and all the lettuce in a batch will mature at about the same time so sowing and growing on ten to twelve every fortnight will be perfect. Buying a pack of seedlings every few weeks is an easy way to do that.
Even better sow a mixed pack of lettuce. Not only do you get variety but they will mature at different times.
Although I adore cos lettuce, the one I sow more than any other is ‘Little Gem’ or more modern substitutes such as ‘Maureen’, ‘Tantan’ or red-leaved ‘Amaze’ and ‘Intred’. These are like mini-cos and they are quick to mature and also compact plants so ideal for raised beds and pots. They are crunchy and sweet and have far more vitamins than ‘Iceberg’ because of the green colouring of the leaves. And, of course, freshly cut lettuce contains far more vitamin C than leaves that have been in packs for days.
Lettuce don’t have a lot of problems but sparrows and pigeons can attack young seedlings. You can protect the plants with a few twigs placed over them or you can cover the plants with fleece. Watch out for slugs and snails too which will devour the small plants. As they grow, keep the plants free from weeds which will compete for water and nutrients and harbour greenfly.
Remember that even hearting lettuce can be harvested, a few leaves at a time when before they are mature.