There are many varieties of lettuce and the great thing is that most of them can be grown in a window box. Lettuce seems to be a popular container plant, especially for people who live in the city and don’t have access to an area for a large garden. Here are 5 tips on growing lettuce for you to use on any size of lettuce crop.
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Plant Seeds during Cooler Weather
Lettuce does very well when the weather is cool. A light frost usually isn’t harmful to most types of lettuce either. As long as the temps stay around 40 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, your lettuce should grow well. Fall and early spring are both great times to plant lettuce seeds.
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Fertilize before Planting
Use a fertilizer that is high in nitrogen, such as a 30-10-10 NPK type. This will provide your seeds with plenty of nutrients to enable them to grow healthy leaves.
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Don’t Sow Seeds Too Deep
The seeds of all types of lettuce are very small, so they don’t need to be planted very deep into the soil. One-eighth to three-eighths inches in depth is best. Make sure to leave enough room between each row of lettuce too; 6 to 12 inches is common, but you might want to space them out more for head lettuces.
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Keep the Weeds Pulled around Your Lettuce Plants
Since the roots of lettuce plants don’t go very deep, weeds can rob your lettuce leaves of the nutrients they need to thrive. Keeping the weeds pulled will allow your plants to get the nourishment they need.
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Water Often
Supplying your lettuce plants with plenty of water doesn’t mean that you should drown them to the point of having standing water. The leaves of a lettuce plant do consist of mostly water, but dirt that is constantly moist is better than soil that is utterly saturated.
My favorite type of lettuce is known as Butterhead lettuce. The flavor is smooth and the leaves are perfect for fresh salads at any time. This type of lettuce also has only 8mg of sodium per serving. Do you have a favorite type of lettuce that you are thinking about growing?
Top Photo Credit: The Nostalgia Fairy
