By Rocio Silva, HOME GROWN. Updated September 2026.
Lettuce is the crop we tell first-time gardeners to start with, and it is also the crop that quietly fails more than any other. The seed is cheap, the plant is fast, and yet half the "my lettuce didn't come up" emails we get every August trace back to one thing: soil that was too warm for the seed to wake up. Get the temperature right and lettuce is almost embarrassingly easy. This guide covers how to grow lettuce from seed in both spring and fall, how far apart to space each type, and how to keep it sweet instead of bitter.
Lettuce at a Glance
There are four main types of lettuce, and they differ in how long they take and how much space they want. The days-to-maturity figures below are from our own seed packets, not a generic chart.
| Type | Varieties we grow | Days to harvest | Final spacing | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Looseleaf | Black Seeded Simpson, Red Oakleaf, Prizehead | 40 to 60 (baby leaf from 25) | 4 to 6 inches | Cut-and-come-again, containers, fastest harvest |
| Butterhead | Buttercrunch, Bibb | 55 to 65 from transplant | 6 to 8 inches | Tender heads, tolerates light frost |
| Romaine | Parris Island, Red Romaine | 68 to 75 | 8 to 10 inches | Crisp upright heads, the most heat-tolerant type |
| Crisphead | Iceberg | 70 to 100 | 8 to 12 inches | Dense heads, needs a long cool stretch |
If you only have room for one, start with a looseleaf or butterhead. Crisphead is the hardest type to grow at home because it needs 10 to 14 weeks of cool weather without a heat wave.
When to Plant Lettuce
Lettuce is a cool-season crop. The seed germinates best when the soil is 55 to 65°F, and germination drops off sharply once soil passes 80°F (Utah State University Extension). The plants themselves grow best when daytime temperatures stay under about 75°F, and young plants shrug off light frost down to 32°F. That gives you two windows a year.
Spring planting
Direct sow 2 to 3 weeks before your last spring frost, as soon as the soil can be worked. If you started seedlings indoors, transplant them out around the last frost date. Keep sowing a short row every 2 to 3 weeks until about a month before your summer highs settle above 80°F. After that, spring lettuce bolts faster than it grows.
Fall planting (the better crop)
Fall lettuce is sweeter and holds in the garden longer because it matures into cooling weather instead of warming weather. The catch is that you sow it in late summer, when the soil is at its hottest. Count back from your first fall frost: you want heads maturing 1 to 2 weeks before frost, which means sowing 45 to 75 days before that, depending on type. The table below does the math for you.
| Average first fall frost | Sow looseleaf (45 days) | Sow butterhead (60 days) | Sow romaine (70 days) |
|---|---|---|---|
| September 15 | July 18 to July 25 | July 3 to July 10 | June 23 to June 30 |
| October 1 | August 3 to August 10 | July 19 to July 26 | July 9 to July 16 |
| October 15 | August 17 to August 24 | August 2 to August 9 | July 23 to July 30 |
| November 1 | September 3 to September 10 | August 19 to August 26 | August 9 to August 16 |
| November 15 or later | September 17 to September 24 | September 2 to September 9 | August 23 to August 30 |
Not sure of your frost date? Our fall garden planting calendar by zone lists them, and the fall vegetable garden guide covers what else to sow alongside lettuce.
Germinating lettuce in hot weather
If your soil is above 80°F when the fall window opens, do not sow into it and hope. Three things work:
- Pre-chill the seed. Sprinkle the seed on a damp paper towel, seal it in a bag, and refrigerate for 2 to 4 days before sowing. Seed that takes up water while cold germinates far more evenly in warm soil.
- Sow in the evening and shade the bed. A board or a length of shade cloth over the row keeps the top inch of soil several degrees cooler until seedlings show. Take it off as soon as they emerge.
- Start indoors. A tray on a cool windowsill or under a shop light germinates in 7 to 10 days. Transplant at 3 to 4 weeks old, in the evening, and water in well.
How to Sow Lettuce Seed
Lettuce seed is tiny and it needs light to germinate, so the most common sowing mistake is burying it. Sow ¼ inch deep at most, and for the finest seed just press it into the surface and dust a little sifted compost over it.
- Prepare a fine seedbed. Rake the top 2 inches smooth and break up any clods. Lettuce roots are shallow, so the surface matters more than the depth.
- Sow thinly in rows 12 to 18 inches apart. Aim for a seed every inch. You will thin later, and the thinnings are your first salad.
- Cover barely and firm gently. A ¼ inch of fine soil or vermiculite, then press the row down with your palm so the seed touches moist soil.
- Keep the surface moist until emergence. Mist or water with a fine rose every day in warm weather. Seedlings appear in 7 to 10 days at the right temperature.
- Thin in two passes. When plants have 2 true leaves, thin to 2 to 3 inches. Two weeks later, thin to the final spacing for the type (4 to 6 inches for looseleaf, 6 to 8 for butterhead, 8 to 10 for romaine, 8 to 12 for crisphead). Eat every thinning.
For cut-and-come-again baby leaf, skip the second thinning entirely. Leave plants 2 inches apart and start cutting at 3 to 4 inches tall.
Starting Lettuce Indoors and Transplanting
Starting indoors buys you 3 to 4 weeks at each end of the season and gets around hot-soil germination problems. Sow 4 to 6 weeks before you want to transplant, in cell trays or soil blocks, at 65 to 70°F. Lettuce does not need a heat mat; in fact a heat mat set for tomatoes will keep the seed dormant.
Give seedlings strong light as soon as they emerge, because leggy lettuce never recovers. Harden off over 5 to 7 days, then transplant at the final spacing with the crown (where the leaves meet the roots) sitting right at soil level. Buried crowns rot; exposed crowns dry out.
Sun, Soil, and Water
Sun: Full sun in spring and fall. In summer or in hot climates, afternoon shade is a feature, not a problem. Lettuce is one of the few vegetables that produces a real crop on 4 to 5 hours of direct sun, which is why it is our first recommendation for a shady balcony.
Soil: Loose, well-drained, and rich in organic matter, with a pH around 6.0 to 7.0. Work in an inch of compost before sowing. Lettuce is a leaf crop, so it wants nitrogen; a side-dressing of a balanced organic fertilizer at thinning time is usually all it needs.
Water: 1 to 2 inches per week, applied evenly. This is the single most important care rule. Lettuce roots live in the top 6 inches of soil, and a wet-then-dry pattern is what causes tough leaves, bitterness, and tipburn (browning on the edges of inner leaves). Mulch between rows with straw or shredded leaves to hold moisture and keep soil cool. Check our seed germination temperature chart if you want the full temperature ranges for lettuce and the crops you will plant next to it.
Growing Lettuce in Containers
Lettuce is the best vegetable for pots. A container 6 inches deep grows looseleaf; give heads 8 inches or more. A standard 24-inch window box holds 3 to 4 butterheads or a dense cut-and-come-again planting of leaf lettuce.
- Use a quality potting mix, never garden soil, and add a slow-release organic fertilizer at planting.
- Containers dry out fast. In warm weather that can mean watering daily. A saucer helps, but do not let the pot sit in water.
- Move pots into afternoon shade once temperatures pass 80°F. This is the one advantage containers have over beds: the crop can follow the cool spots.
Balcony grower? Our apartment balcony garden ideas guide has layouts that put lettuce in the shadiest corner where nothing else will crop.
How to Harvest Lettuce
There are three ways to harvest, and the best one depends on the type.
- Outer-leaf harvest (all types): Pick the largest outer leaves whenever you need them, leaving the center to keep growing. A single butterhead or romaine plant handled this way feeds you for 4 to 6 weeks.
- Cut-and-come-again (looseleaf): When leaves are 4 to 6 inches tall, cut the whole plant 1 inch above the crown. It regrows for a second and often a third cutting, each about 2 weeks apart. The second cut is usually the best.
- Whole head (butterhead, romaine, crisphead): Cut at the base when the head is full-sized and, for romaine and crisphead, firm to a gentle squeeze. Butterhead is ready when the rosette closes into a loose heart.
Harvest in the morning, when leaves are crisp and full of water. Rinse, spin dry, and store in a bag with a paper towel; homegrown lettuce keeps 7 to 10 days refrigerated, which is longer than most people expect.
Common Lettuce Problems and Fixes
Bolting (the plant sends up a flower stalk)
Heat and long days trigger it, and once a plant bolts the leaves turn bitter within days. Fixes: harvest promptly, sow in succession so a fresh planting is always coming, choose heat-tolerant varieties (Parris Island Romaine holds longer than most), and use afternoon shade in summer. A plant that has just started to elongate can still be harvested if you cut it that day.
Bitter leaves without bolting
Almost always water stress or heat. Mulch, water more evenly, and harvest in the morning. Chilling harvested leaves for a few hours also reduces bitterness.
Tipburn
Brown, dry edges on the inner leaves. It is a calcium delivery problem caused by uneven watering, not a soil deficiency, so the fix is consistent moisture rather than more fertilizer.
Slugs and snails
The main pest of lettuce in damp weather. Water in the morning so the surface is dry by night, keep mulch pulled back an inch from stems, and use beer traps or iron phosphate bait. Copper tape works on containers.
Aphids
Check the undersides of leaves and the folds of heads. A hard spray of water knocks most off; insecticidal soap handles the rest. Our plant pest guide covers the full escalation ladder.
Damping off
Seedlings collapse at the soil line. Caused by overwatering and poor airflow in trays. Use fresh seed-starting mix, water from below, and run a small fan.
Lettuce Varieties We Grow and Recommend
Everything below is open-pollinated, so you can save seed from a plant you let bolt at the end of the season.
- Buttercrunch: the butterhead we recommend to every beginner. Tender, sweet, compact heads in 55 to 65 days from transplant, and it takes light frost in stride. Sow ⅛ inch deep, space 6 to 8 inches.
- Parris Island Romaine: tall, crisp heads in 68 to 75 days, and more heat-tolerant than most romaines, which makes it the best choice for the late-spring slot. Space 8 to 10 inches.
- 5-variety salad pack: Black Seeded Simpson, Red Romaine, Bibb, Buttercrunch, and Iceberg. One of each type, so you can find out which one your garden and your kitchen prefer.
- 8-variety lettuce and greens pack: six lettuces (Parris Island, Buttercrunch, Red Oakleaf, Iceberg, Prizehead, Bibb) plus Dwarf Siberian Kale and Nobel Giant Spinach for a full fall salad bed, with plant markers and a planting guide.
- 20-variety lettuce and greens pack: for the gardener who wants to trial a whole season of succession sowings without buying the same packet twice.
Lettuce Questions We Get Every Season
Why is my lettuce bitter?
Heat, water stress, or age. Lettuce that has started to bolt is bitter within days; lettuce grown through a dry spell is bitter before it bolts. Harvest younger, water evenly, and grow your main crop in fall.
Can I grow lettuce in summer?
Yes, with afternoon shade, heavy mulch, daily water in containers, and a heat-tolerant romaine or looseleaf. Expect smaller, faster harvests and plan on cutting young. In the hottest climates, treat summer as the gap between your spring and fall crops rather than fighting it.
How long does lettuce take to grow from seed?
Baby leaf in 25 to 30 days, looseleaf in 40 to 60, butterhead in 55 to 65 from transplant, romaine in 68 to 75, and crisphead in 70 to 100. Cool weather at the end of the cycle matters more than the exact number.
How many lettuce plants do I need?
For a household of two eating salad most days, 6 to 8 head lettuces plus a 3-foot row of cut-and-come-again looseleaf, resown every 2 to 3 weeks, keeps you in greens without a glut.
Sources: Utah State University Extension, Lettuce in the Garden; HOME GROWN seed packet data. Started your first row? Pair it with the easiest plants to grow for a beginner garden that actually produces.
