Permapotes

Lettuce

Lettuce: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar

Lettuce is a leafy vegetable valued for its freshness, varied textures and generally mild flavour. Its botanical name is Lactuca sativa, and it belongs to the Asteraceae family, alongside chicory. It is an annual plant whose leaves are the main part eaten. The word salad can refer to a dish or to several different vegetables, so not every plant served as a salad leaf is a lettuce.

Early in its development, the plant forms a rosette of leaves around a short stem. Depending on the type, these leaves remain open or draw together into a head. Heading lettuces have a more or less tightly packed heart, while loose-leaf types keep a more spreading outline. A plant does not need to form a firm head to belong to the same species. These contrasting shapes are part of the crop’s diversity.

Butterhead lettuces have tender, flexible leaves. Romaine or cos types form taller heads with upright leaves and pronounced central ribs. Batavia types generally have a crisper texture and wavy edges. Oak-leaf lettuces have lobed leaves, while Lollo types have strongly curled foliage. Sucrine and Rougette are among the names associated with compact lettuces. These groups differ in appearance and texture rather than representing separate species.

Colours include pale green, darker green, red and combinations of shades. Outer leaves and those in the heart can look different on the same plant. Red colour does not automatically mean a stronger flavour, and a tightly packed head is not always more tender. Leaf shape, thickness and rib texture provide useful distinctions alongside the plant’s overall appearance.

Lettuce changes shape when it enters its reproductive stage. The stem lengthens and develops flower heads before seeds form. This transition, known as bolting, often brings greater bitterness and a less pleasant texture. Varieties differ in their speed of development, sensitivity to heat and seasonal suitability. A lettuce associated with cool conditions therefore does not necessarily behave like a selection intended for summer.

In the kitchen, lettuce adds volume and freshness to mixed salads, sandwiches and side dishes. Tender types and firmer leaves give different sensations within the same mixture. Lettuce also appears in some braised dishes and soups. In the vegetable garden, its colours and shapes offer varied combinations even where space is limited.

Lettuce
Lettuce
Characteristics
  • Lifecycle : Annual
  • Exposure : Partial Shade
  • Frost Hardiness : Slightly Frost Sensitive
  • Cultivation Difficulty : Easy
  • Mature height : 25 cm
Sowing & Planting
  • Greenhouse crops : Unheated greenhouse
  • Greenhouse Growing : Not Required
  • Sowing Depth : 0.5 cm
  • Plant Spacing : 25 cm
  • Row Spacing : 25 cm
Maintenance
  • Maintenance : Low
  • Water Requirements : Moderate
Other characteristics
  • Soil Type : Humus-rich
  • Soil pH Preference : Neutral
  • Pest Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Disease Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Weed Sensitivity : Moderate
  • Pollination : Self-pollinating
  • Propagation : Sowing