Learn How to Grow Lettuce in Pots with this step-by-step guide and harvest fresh leaves without spending money.
Growing Lettuce in pots is fun, easy, and convenient for small-space gardeners! This cool-season crop provides quick access to crispy, fresh, and organic lettuce leaves for your salad.
Lettuce in Pots
Lettuce is a very easy vegetable to grow in pots; you can even grow it in a small container. This crispy salad green is rich in water, fiber, vitamins, and minerals such as calcium, magnesium, potassium, and sodium.
You can start to harvest lettuce in no time– about eight weeks for most varieties; it is as productive as spinach.
Choosing the Right Pot
It’s best to grow lettuce in a wide and shallow container. Leaf lettuce can thrive in smaller containers than head lettuce. A suitable container for leaf lettuce should be at least 12 inches in width and 6 inches in depth. For head lettuce, a container should be 16 inches wide and between 12 and 16 inches deep.
Lettuce has shallow roots, so a deep container isn’t necessary. However, using a deeper container can help retain moisture longer, reducing watering frequency.
Growing Lettuce in Pots
Growing lettuce in containers can be done directly by sowing seeds or transplanting them.
If you are transplanting, add 7-8 ml of time-release fertilizer (every gallon of soil).
Bury the transplant about 0.5-0.8 cm deep in the soil. Sow seeds only when it is not too cold or in freezing temperatures.
Place the pots in a spot that protects them from the intense heat of the afternoon sun.
Varieties of Lettuce to Choose From
- Celtuce: This kind is mainly grown not for its leaves but for its stems, which are quite similar to celery.
- Romaine: It is quite a popular kind of Caesar salad. There is a wide range of cultivars that you can choose from. It produces leaves that form a loose ball around a tight center. It takes up to 85-90 days to grow to maturity and can tolerate some heat.
- Crisphead: It forms crisp, just like its name suggests, firm, large heads with paler leaves and less flavor to offer than others. The most commonly used kind is the iceberg, and it takes the longest to grow this plant, which could be challenging to grow it successfully.
- Loose Leaf: It has no tight head, is one of the fastest-growing types, and has comparatively stronger flavors. It takes about 45-50 days to mature.
- Butterhead: It produces soft leaves that taste mild and sweet and carry a delicate flavor and a loosehead.
Starting Seeds Indoors
To start seeds indoors, sow them in starter trays 3-4 weeks before you transplant them. Then, fill the tray with a good quality seed starting mix and plant the seeds about 0.5-0.8 cm deep into the soil. Sprinkle water evenly to moisten the soil and place the tray someplace cool.
Keep the soil evenly damp and not soaked. After the seeds germinate, you can place them under either grow or 2-4 inches below fluorescent lights. You can even choose to place them in a sunny spot indoors where they will get at least 12-14 hours of sunlight.
Tip: Remember the lettuce will not germinate properly at temperatures above 75 °F or 23 °C.
Sprinkle water using a watering can and water them well because the new seedlings do not have an established root system when the greens start to show. Carefully water the base of the plant to avoid inviting any pests, insects, or diseases.
Maintaining proper air circulation is another way to avoid serious conditions that may kill your seedlings, such as damping off.
Tip: To maintain the balance, you can use a small fan to provide air circulation around the new greens. Run it for 10-15 minutes twice or thrice a day.
Did you know that lettuce seedlings need to be hardened before planting? You can start by placing them outside for a couple of hours every day and keeping them indoors about 2-3 days before planting time.
Requirements for Growing Lettuce in Pots
Light
Lettuce requires a minimum of five to six hours of sunlight daily, but it can handle partial shade better than many other vegetables. As a fragile leafy plant, exposure to the intense afternoon sun can cause it to wilt. One advantage of container gardening is the ability to move your lettuce garden to ensure it receives the ideal amount of light.
Soil
This cool-season crop grows best in soil that is rich in nitrogen and drains well. You can either purchase a pre-mixed potting soil made for container gardening or create your own mix. Add compost as it is beneficial when growing lettuce in containers, as it provides essential nutrients, promotes lush leaf growth, and helps prevent pests and diseases. Make sure to incorporate a scoop or two of compost into the soil before planting your lettuce.
Water
It requires regular moisture to maintain its tender and sweet leaves. Insufficient watering can lead to tough and bitter lettuce. Make sure to water it whenever the top inch of soil becomes dry.
Temperature
Lettuce thrives in cool weather, which makes it ideal for spring or fall cultivation. Exposure to a hard freeze can be fatal for lettuce, while temperatures above 75°F lead to bolting, where the plant shifts its energy from leaf production to flowering and seed development. Bolting means the lettuce stops growing the leaves we consume.
Fertilizer
Apply a water-soluble fertilizer every two weeks. This dose provides nitrogen that helps in producing tender leaves. Do not overfeed the plant and follow the instructions on the label.
Pests and Diseases
Slugs and aphids can trouble the lettuce plants; examine the plants once a week for signs of infestation. If you notice them, spray the affected area with neem oil to repel aphids. To get rid of slugs, pick them from hand and drop them in a bucket of soapy water.
Harvesting
Constant harvesting of lettuce promotes the plant to produce more leaves. Use clean, sharp scissors and cut mature large leaves. Harvest the lettuce in the early morning when the water content is at its peak.
