Lettuce Growing Guide

Lettuce Quick Start Checklist

1. Pick your variety: grow what you like to eat! Loose-leaf or hearting - there's a lettuce for everyone.
2. Choose the right spot: choose a sunny spot and prepare your soil well with organic matter like Tui Compost and Tui Organic Sheep Pellets.
3. Plant into a quality mix: use Tui Vegetable Mix for a strong start.
4. Feed regularly: keep feeding your lettuce as they grow. Choose the fertiliser option that best suits how you want to garden, for quick visible results try Tui Vege & Herb Liquid Superfood.
5. Mulch and water: keep roots cool and moist with Tui Mulch & Feed and regular watering.

Choose your lettuce

Lettuce is a crop that anyone can grow, no matter the space, and you should be able to pick and enjoy within six weeks. There are many varieties, and you’re best to choose what you and your family enjoy eating.  Go for hearting types like Iceberg if you like a crunchy centre, or loose-leaf varieties if you want to pick a few leaves at a time.

Prepare the soil

• Lettuce love full sun from autumn to spring, and partial shade through the heat of summer.
• They prefer a rich, free-draining base so try mixing Tui Compost and Tui Organic Sheep Pellets into your garden bed to give the soil structure and replace nutrients. 

Get planting

• It’s best to plant in the early morning or late afternoon, when the sun isn’t too intense.
• Plant into Tui Vegetable Mix; developed to give vege crops a strong start. It’s suitable for garden beds, pots and containers and includes a blend of fertilisers, sheep pellets, blood & bone and dolomite lime to support initial plant growth.
• In garden beds, dig a hole slightly bigger than the roots of your seedlings and add some Tui Vegetable Mix.  
• In pots or containers, fill with Tui Vegetable Mix to about 3cm below the rim of the pot, ensuring there’s enough to support root growth.
• To reduce transplant shock, soak your seedlings in Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic and then gently place your plant into the hole, fill around it, and water well.

Feed and nourish

• Feeding your lettuce will support them to grow bigger and healthier. Choose from three different Tui vegetable fertiliser options:  
  • Tui Vege & Herb Liquid Superfood is perfect for quick results as plants are able to absorb the nutrients immediately. For best results feed weekly.
  • Tui Vegetable Food is a granular option that should be applied every four weeks.
  • Tui Enrich Vege, Tomato & Herb Fertiliser Controlled Release Fertiliser can be applied up to six monthly, suitable for gardeners that want to feed and forget.
• To retain moisture, add a layer of Tui Pea Straw Mulch or Tui Mulch & Feed and ensure you water consistently.
• Try a sprinkle of Tui Quash Slug & Snail Control to manage these pests - they love munching on young lettuce plants! 

Frequently Asked Questions

What lettuce should I grow in each season?

• All year: try Cos and Little Gem
• Spring: Plant hearting iceberg types of lettuce, frilly oak leaved lettuces, as well as salad greens such as mizuna, rocket and mibuna.
• Mid-summer: Stop planting hearting lettuces as they don't like excessive heat.
• Winter: Tom Thumb, Little Gem, Lamb's Ear lettuce, Corn Salad, loose leaf varieties such as oak leaf green and red, mesclun winter greens. There is also a hearting variety called Imperial Triumph that is cold tolerant.

Do I need to harvest my lettuce all at once?

• Loose leaf lettuce can be harvested a leaf at a time and they will regrow. If you start picking leaves early enough and leave enough of the plant in the ground, you should be able to harvest for a number of weeks. Hearting lettuce types are best harvested all at once.

How do I grow lettuce from seed?

• You can sow seeds directly into the garden or into seed trays. Before planting, mix Tui Seed Raising Mix into the soil, or use it to fill your seed trays. Sow seeds 5mm deep and, if planting directly, space them about 2cm apart. As seedlings grow, thin them out to allow room to mature. Keep the soil well-watered. Once seedlings have developed two sets of true leaves, they’re ready to be transplanted into the garden.

Discover more advice and inspiration for growing your own veges at the Vege Hub >