How to grow Salad Leaves from seed

With so many different types of lettuce and salad leaf, sowing instructions will vary, so always check the back of seed packets to see what’s recommended. In almost all cases, however, sowings can be made by marking out 1cm-deep drills spaced 20-30cm apart into prepared soil with a cane.

Tip seed very thinly into the bottom of the drill and then cover back over with the growing medium. Seeds may also be broadcast sown by scattering them thinly and evenly over the surface of the ground to create a spread. This is a particularly useful method of sowing into pots, where access between rows is unnecessary.

When to plant lettuce in the UK

The earliest sowings can be made in March, but these will need to take place under cloches, where the extra degree or two of warmth will ensure speedier germination. The final sowing can be made in early autumn, again under cover, to guard against the onset of inclement weather. Suitable autumn-sown leaves include many of the Oriental salads, which can quickly run to seed earlier in the summer. Go for hardy types such as mizuna, land cress or rocket.

Caring for your Salad Leaves plants + problems

How long does lettuce take to grow?

Salad leaves can be ready in just a few weeks given good growing conditions. And the beauty is that because they grow quickly and remain short, this opens up numerous possibilities of where to sow them. Colourful mixes make attractive edgings, or sow between slower-growing crops such as parsnip for a sneaky intercrop.

These attractive plants really look the business sown into old Belfast sinks, redundant wellies or quirky containers made from recycled materials such as vegetable crates. You can also sow them into grow bags – this is a great way to use up any remaining goodness left after you’ve disposed of your summer tomatoes.

How much room does lettuce need to grow?

Salad leaves will germinate in as few as three or four days. If you have sown them sparingly enough they shouldn’t need thinning, but if it looks like they are going to be overcrowded, pull out some of the lettuce seedlings to give the others more room to expand.

Don’t throw away these thinnings – they’re your first nutritious crop, so tuck in! Again, be guided by the seed packet instructions.

As soon as the spring weather warms up any cloches can be removed. This is normally around early to mid April, depending on the progress of the season. For a continual supply of fresh and tasty salad leaves you will need to sow every three weeks.

The best time to plant lettuce isn’t in one go at the start of the season. It’s far better to scatter seeds little and often – plants will give a few pickings but will eventually grow taller to flower, so it’s necessary to always have new ones on the go.

At any one time there should be salad leaves ready for picking, some recovering from a previous harvest, and others recently sown.

How to keep lettuce growing

You will find it genuinely difficult to fail with salad leaves, which is why they are so often recommended as the perfect beginner’s crop.

To get the leaves to grow quickly, however, it is essential that the soil never dries out as this can cause the plant to go to seed. Tough, bitter leaves are what you will pick from flowering salads, so keep rows well watered

Water crops in the early evening when evaporation rates are low but while there are still a few hours of sunlight left so that plants can dry off a bit before sunset (moist, succulent leaves are the nocturnal slug’s dream!) Keep beds weed-free by regular hand weeding or hoeing.

As with any cut-and-come-again vegetables, repeated picking of leaves can take its toll on nutrient levels within the soil or compost. This is particularly acute when growing lettuce in containers, so top them up by giving plants a drenching of a liquid feed, such as dilute seaweed concentrate every week or two to boost salad leaves.

Growing salad leaves in containers

Salad leaves are the best edibles to raise if you only have a balcony or even no outside space at all, and window boxes are easy to prepare. Start by making sure that your container has enough drainage holes.

Now fill the base with a 2-3cm layer of drainage material such as stones or gravel, and top up with multipurpose compost. Fill to within 2cm of the rim, firm down, then sow seed thinly before covering it over with a 1cm layer of finely sieved compost. Gently water the growing medium, and keep it moist at all times.

How to harvest Salad Leaves

Picking salad leaves may seem like a fairly obvious operation, but it’s the cutting lettuce from the garden that many eager gardeners get wrong.

To encourage repeat harvests from a cut-and-come-again crop you will need to preserve the central growing point of the salad plant. There are two ways to do this: by snipping along the row or over the patch to ‘carpet harvest’ your leaves, or by selecting just one or two of the biggest leaves from each lettuce plant, working your way along the rows to leave the majority of each one intact.

In the former instance make a cut at least 2cm above soil or compost level to preserve the central growing point, from where the next batch of leaves will emerge. Water and liquid feed after cutting this way to stimulate new leaf production.

Selective harvesting of leaves is a good technique where space is limited and you haven’t got a large crop to play with. Cut them away as soon as they reach three to 10cm tall, taking them from the outside of the plant to leave the central rosette of foliage in place.

These will in turn become the outside leaves as more growth appears in the centre of each plant. Careful harvesting will see at least three or four cuts possible – and likely many more. Always use a sharp knife or pair of scissors for the job.

How to keep salad leaves fresh in the fridge

Salads are best eaten fresh, when you will get the most benefit from the nutrients contained within the leaves. They will, however, keep fresh and crisp for a few days in a grocery bag, misted with a little water, in the fridge. Tougher pickings can be added at the very last minute to stir-fries for a splash of colour.

Varieties of Salad Leaves

Salad Leaves varieties to try