Butterhead lettuce is super easy and convenient to grow. I’m sharing a few tips + a how-to guide on growing lettuce as the cooler fall season approaches this year.
This post may contain affiliate links. Please read our disclosure policy.
With fall almost here it’s time to start thinking of the cool weather crops I’ll be planting by seed very soon. I don’t know about you, but my mind has been anywhere but the garden this year. I’ve had so much going on that it seems as if the garden has taken a back seat.
I’ve been harvesting lots of varieties of tomatoes, herbs, garlic, blackberries, and will have some peppers too… but I have been doing the bare, bare minimum keeping it going.
That is okay with me right now, though. It’s just not my season to be experimenting with new methods, planting a million seeds, or making over the garden to look Instagram-worthy.
Right now I’m growing a baby, preparing for their arrival, prioritizing my health, investing extra time in my relationship with my husband, and finishing up some interior home projects before we take a few months off from that.
And let’s not even get into the amount of extra work I’ve been pouring into this blog each week so I can still have new content published every week throughout my 3-month maternity leave.
That being said, homesteading is so important to me. It feeds my soul.
Though, I’ve been learning lately that it’s not always about how much production you can pump out the most efficiently. It’s not about constantly working or learning something new 24/7. In my experience, that’s how burnout happens…
I would love an extravagant garden with a stupid amount of harvesting each day, new flower bulbs planted each season, fresh round-the-year bouquets, preserving fun foods every week… but right now that just sounds so overwhelming to me.
Right now, I am okay with harvesting a small basket of produce every day or two in my three raised garden beds and my small patio garden.
It fulfills me and teaches me something new every season, no matter how small.
One thing I’ve loved learning is how to succession plant and how to plant season by season.
Many think gardening is just for summer, but it can really be all year long. Even if you live in a climate with harsh winters, you can probably still plant several crops in spring and fall.
This is where one of my favorite easy cool weather crops comes in: Butterhead Lettuce.
Lettuce in general is so easy to sow and harvest.
There are so many different methods and the fresh greens always taste so much better than store bought. They’re vibrant, fresh, and crisp.
I am quite the snob when it comes to lettuce. I love salad, but you won’t see me buying packaged lettuce from the grocery store. Not anymore.
After you’ve had it fresh from the garden, you’ll see exactly what I mean.
The beauty in growing your own lettuce is that you can succession plant, so you almost always have a head of lettuce to use in the kitchen. It’s so easy to both plant and harvest and also grows in less than a month.
That is my kind of crop!
Now, let’s get into all the details of growing butterhead lettuce…
Butterhead Lettuce How-To Guide
What else can I grow near my butterhead lettuce?
- Carrots
- Parsnips
- Beets
- Radishes
- Onions
- Strawberries
How do I succession plant for small harvests consistently throughout the season?
Succession planting means you’ll grow a limited amount of a crop at a time. Although you may eventually have a full garden bed of the crop, ultimately they will all be in different growing stages. This is due to planting them at varying times, in succession, spacing their seed planting schedules by a week or so from one another.
This ensures that each week you’ll be able to harvest a few heads of lettuce that you can eat without first going bad. If you plant all the seeds at once, you’ll end up with large amounts of lettuce all ready at the same time and will either have some go to waste or have to give some away, which isn’t always a bad thing either.
Tools/Materials You’ll Need | butterhead lettuce
Butterhead lettuce seeds
Raised beds with loose, fertile soil (with good drainage)
Watering can OR garden hose and wand with different settings
Dibber, optional
Tips for Success | butterhead lettuce
To get a headstart, it is always fine to start seeds indoors first. For lettuce, use a medium-sized pot (reusable plastic ones are fine) to plant seeds in. You’ll plant 2-3 per pot, to ensure at least one germinates. Once they reach about 2-3 inches in height, you’ll want to transplant them outside for a bit more space. Lettuce doesn’t produce deep roots, but they’ll need more space since butterhead specifically gets so big and round. For more details on germinating seeds indoors see the post How to Germinate Seeds Indoors HERE.
For planting seeds, I always recommend not wearing gloves. Seeds, especially lettuce seeds, are tiny and you’ll want to be able to feel them with your hands. It is much easier to work without gloves in this instance. A good hand washing afterwards will work just fine in keeping hands clean.
Steps | butterhead lettuce
Prep soil
A couple of weeks beforehand I like to prepare the soil with nutrients for a rich, healthy soil. I recommend using homemade compost or a mushroom compost from the nursery. These both work efficiently and provide necessary nutrients for plants to thrive. Simply add and mix with existing soil.
Add water
Plant lettuce seeds according to local weather patterns. Once harsh weather has passed, plant seeds in anywhere from 35º to 75º temperatures. (Where I live in Missouri, this is usually in September in the fall and March in the spring. Use Almanac.com to type in your zip code and find the correct planting dates for lettuce where you live.)
The day you are ready to plant seeds, moisten the soil using a watering can or a hose with a nozzle that has a light soaker setting. Since the seeds are tiny, it’s easier to moisten soil beforehand.
Make wells for seeds
Use a dibber (or a straw or another small vessel) to make tiny wells in the soil, about 12 inches apart. Make each well only about 1/16” deep. Once the lettuce eventually starts producing leaves they will need plenty of room to grow outward.
Plant
Add 2-3 seeds per well and lightly cover with soil, just barely. Seeds this small only need to be covered with a fraction of soil to keep them in place. They need access to light and water sources and need to be practically at the surface, not buried deeply like some other crops prefer.
Water often
Lettuce needs to be kept moist. During dryer weeks, this may mean watering it daily. If you get lots of rain some weeks, you may not have to water hardly at all or often.
Thin plants as needed to ensure they have several inches of space between each seedling as they grow into full-size lettuce heads.
Harvest
Harvest lettuce by pulling the head at the base. Twist and pull upward until you’re able to get the head loose from the earth. Shake off excess soil.
Clean
I triple wash my lettuce before storing. Here is my cleaning method:
- Fill a sanitized sink with cool water, just enough to cover lettuce leaves. Using a free hand, lightly mix and swish the leaves around in the water so any loose soil or bugs can sink and/or separate from the lettuce.
- Remove lettuce from the sink bath and place into a colander. Lightly spray the lettuce leaves with cool water. Shake the colander as you spray to ensure all lettuce is sprayed thoroughly. You should see a little soil coming off into the sink.
- Last, take each lettuce leaf and rinse each side under cool water. Watch to make sure any soil or bugs run off of the lettuce into the sink. This will produce little in the sink, but it does ensure the last remnants of bugs/dirt get out of the lettuce.
- Let dry in a single layer on a tea towel until just barely damp and store in a sealed container or bag in the fridge for use. Use within 3-5 days.
More Gardening Posts
Organic Soil Amendments for Backyard Gardeners
How to Harden Off Seedlings in 7 Days
DIY Raised Garden Beds for Cheap
