Growing Guides How to grow lettuce

Date Published:

15/10/2007

Varieties

Lettuce varieties available from seed catalogues will give you a choice way beyond that offered by any supermarket.

Many will make a strong aesthetic contribution to the vegetable patch and are highly decorative in their own right.

Cos (often called Romaine)

Butterhead and crisphead varieties form a heart, while looseleaf varieties do not.

Aruba

Dark red leaves that are disease resistant and slow to bolt. A highly decorative looseleaf variety that will add visual interest to the vegetable patch.

Dickinson

If you're looking for a very crisp iceberg-style crisphead lettuce, this is the one to pick. It has won an RHS Award of Garden Merit and will crop throughout the summer and autumn.

Little Gem

Small cos lettuce perfectly suited to closer spacings or as a catch crop. The dark green heads can be harvested well into autumn.

Lollo Rosso

A crimson looseleaf lettuce that will bring colour to salads. The leaves are frilly and resistant to bolting.

Tom Thumb

This small but reliable lettuce produces tight heads in double-quick time. Can be grown under cloches through to October and is slow to bolt.

Valdor

Cold resistance makes this hardy head-former the perfect choice for growing through the winter to ensure a year-round leaf supply.

Now have a go at some of our salad recipes.

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