Growing great lettuce isn’t the easiest of tasks without some experience. I’ve done quite a bit of testing with different varieties and spacing. I have found that mixes of various lettuces together work best as a young mixed greens salad. The seeds can be planted close together and the lettuce trimmed when a few inches tall, like wheat grass.
If one is planning on growing full size heads of lettuce, mixes don’t work as well. The reason for this is that often only some of the lettuce varieties are meant to grow into heads. To grow full size heads of lettuce, I prefer vertical type heads such as romaine. Parris Island and Renee’s Garden Red and Green are my two favorites.
Most lettuce seeds germinate when planted, so the best thing I suggest is to plant about 50 in one pot or the ground. I do this by putting a handful of soil in a cup with the seeds. I mix the soil and seeds together, wet the mix well, and then sprinkle and mix this in the top 1 centimeter of soil where I will plant. Lettuce likes rich, well aerated soil. Plants will germinate within about a week, and should not dry out for long. When the plants are a couple of inches tall, water them well and then thin out. I keep the largest plants, spacing them about 6 inches apart to grow.
Another way to grow lettuce is start with a mixed greens cutting garden which I mentioned in the first paragraph. This one is my favorite. When you’re done cutting down the mixed greens every few weeks for a salad, water the plants well. Take them out of the soil, and save your favorite varieties, planting them six inches apart. Then, water well. This book has many interesting growing tips.
