Sowing

• To sow your lettuce seeds choose a seedling traywith medium sized cells and drainage holes at the bottom.
• Fill the cells/cups with a moist coco-peat medium
• Lettuce seeds are very small. Sow 2 seeds per cell/cup. Do not sow them in too deep.
• Place your seeds on the surface of the medium and use the inside with the tip of a pencil and cover the surface with coco peat ensuring that the seeds are covered.
• Alternately, you can also make shallow depressions in the medium using the back of a pencil and put your seeds inside these depressions and cover them up with coco peat.
• Keep the seedling tray indoors till the seeds germinate.
• Keep the seed tray in a box or cover it with paper for first 4-5 days to encourage faster seed germination.
• For the first week, water the seeds two tablespoons of water every day. Or keep the seed tray in another tray full of water for half an hour so that the water will be absorbed by the seed cells from the bottom, via drainage holes.
• Outdoors, make sure that you protect your seed beds from direct sunlight and rainfall.
• Cover your seed bed by making a temporary roof of a plastic sheet. Water it in the form of a light shower using a watering can.
• Use a well sieved fine soil as a sowing medium.
• Best season to sow your lettuce seeds is winter.

Caring

• Lettuce seeds will germinate within the first 6 - 8 days and you will notice tiny sprouts.
• Once your seeds have germinated, place your tray in a partially sunny spot, like near a window.
• Second week onwards you will notice that your seedlings have begun to grow into a small plant. At this stage expose your seedlings to more sunlight for better leaf growth.
• After the second week, keep only single seedling per cell/cup. Cut off the weak, small & lagging seedlings with a pair of scissors.
• 30 to 35 days after the seed sowing your seedlings will be ready for transplantation.
• To transplant your seedlings choose a container which is minimum 8 inches deep and has a bigger spread area like big trays or crates.
• Ideal planting mixture for Lettuce is2 part garden soil & 1 part Organic Manure. Or, 1 part garden soil, 1 part coco-peat & 1 part Vermicompost.
• Make sure that you are transplanting the seedlings along with the root ball or a medium.
• Plant the seedlings minimum 1.5 feet apart (45xx45 cm), from each other on raised beds or in a container.
• In winters, Lettuce grows best under full sunlight, so choose a spot for your container accordingly.
• Water your potted Lettuce plant every alternate day in winter.
• Use a watering can to ensure your plant gets watered with an even shower.
• You can also make provision for watering by drip irrigation system for your raised beds. Make sure that you are not overwatering your plant.
• Before transplanting the seedlings, add a good quality of organic manure to the soil in 2:1 ratio.
• Organic fertilizer can be well rotten cow dung manure, farmyard manure, compost or Vermicompost.
• After transplantation, apply balanced liquid fertilizer or handful of vermicompost to each plant, every 15 days.
• 70 to 80 days after transplantation ( or 100-110 days from seed sowing), your lettuce heads will be ready for harvest! Harvest lettuce when it is full sized, firm and solid.

Common Problems

Why are my lettuce seeds not germinating?
Seeds that are sown in too deep or grown in very high temperatures will fail to germinate.
Lettuce is not forming a head.
Lettuce is very sensitive to temperature. Exposure to a heat spell can affect lettuce’s head formation. Seedlings are planted too close to each other is another reason why your lettuce crop is not forming heads.
Why is my Lettuce wilting?
Insufficient water and dry soil can make your lettuce wilt. Similarly, too much water leads to a root rot which in turn will make your lettuce wilt. Make sure you are watering your plant adequately. Too little and too much of water, both are bad for your crop.