How to grow Lettuce (All Year Round)

Lactuca sativa

🥕 Vegetable 🌱 Grown each year

Lettuce All Year Round is a butterhead lettuce with lovely compact crisp hearts. As the name suggests, it can be sown all year round. Autumn sown ones will need to be sown under cover but will be ready to harvest in the spring. Excellent for successional sowing and slow to bolt. Home-grown lettuces lose none of their freshness and crispness and are at their best when used straight from the garden.

At a glance: Sow early March to late August, harvest from late April.

When to sow, plant and harvest

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Sow outdoors

Harvest

Timed for a typical UK garden (last frost mid-April). The app uses your own town's frost dates.

Growing Lettuce (All Year Round): what it needs

Light: Full sun · 6+ hours a day
Watering: Every 1-3 days in warm weather, less in cool
Soil: Well drained, moist rich soil · pH 6.0–7.0
Spacing: 15cm apart
In pots: Grows well in containers
Feeding: Feed lightly if soil is poor; rich soil is preferred.
Harvest: About 60 days from sowing
Hardiness: USDA zones 3–10
Difficulty: Easy

Step by step

Early March – late August · 6 weeks before the last spring frost
Sow Seeds Outdoors (optional)
Sow thinly 1.5cm deep in rows 25cm apart in a prepared seedbed. Lightly cover with fine soil. For continuous crop, sow every 2-3 weeks. Sowings may benefit from cloche or fleece protection.
7–14 days after “Sow Seeds Indoors” · Early March – mid March
Check Germination
Seedlings should appear in 7-14 days. Keep soil moist.
14 days after “Check Germination” · Late March
Thin Seedlings
When large enough (approx. 2-3 weeks after germination), thin seedlings to about 15cm apart. Water carefully after thinning.
7 days after “Transplant Seedlings Outdoors” · Late March
Protect and Ongoing Care
Keep soil moist, especially during dry weather. Protect early sowings with a cloche or fleece. Weed regularly. Water in the morning or mid-day to reduce disease risk.
30–60 days after “Protect and Ongoing Care” · Late April – late May
Harvest Lettuce
Harvest outer leaves as needed for cut-and-come-again, or harvest entire compact crisp hearts when mature. Autumn sowings harvest March-April, Spring/Summer sowings May-July.