Lactuca sativa
Head lettuce
Common names: Garden lettuce, Loose-leaf lettuce
Photo: CostaPPPR · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
Description
Lettuce is the quick success in the bed: from butterhead through crisp iceberg to the loose-leaf ‘Eichblatt’ you harvest fresh greens within weeks. As a gap filler it fits between almost every slower crop.
Care instructions
Set the young plants shallowly so the heart does not rot, and keep the soil evenly moist; drought makes lettuce bolt and turn bitter. Sow a small portion every two to three weeks, then you have a supply all summer.
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
humus-rich, well-drained, loamy, moist, nutrient-rich
Feeding
Medium feeder
Companion planting
Good neighbors
carrot family (Apiaceae)
Calendula and Tagetes next to carrots keep the carrot fly away with their scent.
For example celery rootFennelAstrantia majorAniseAngelica archangelicachervil root and 6 more species in the catalogue
Source: classic companion planting (DACH-Gartenpraxis)
Show 87 more plants
Rather not
nightshade family (Solanaceae)
Sunflowers release substances into the soil that inhibit potato tuber growth, and they also compete for water and nutrients.
For example PotatoChiliPeperoniOrnamental tobaccoPetuniaAngel trumpet and 2 more species in the catalogue
Source: basic crop-rotation rule
Companion planting is partly traditional gardening lore. Where the reason is known, it is given.
Some of these explanations were machine-translated.
Diseases & pests
7 relevantFrom the knowledge base, automatically linked by affected species. How to spot and prevent them is covered in full in the lexicon.
Aphidoidea
You will find that aphids are the most common sucking pests in your garden.
More on AphidsPeronosporaceae
You will find that the False Mildew is not a true fungus, but an oomycete that comes from the underside of the leaf, unlike the True Mildew.
More on False MildewPhyllopertha horticola
Grubs are the larvae of the garden chafer (Phyllopertha horticola) and usually live for one year, or up to two years in cooler locations, in the soil where they eat roots and tubers.
More on Grub beetleBotrytis cinerea
Gray mold is a weak parasite that attacks wherever it is wet and cramped. On ripe strawberries, tomatoes or lettuce heads a typical gray‑fuzzy lawn forms, the fruits rot soft.
More on Gray moldArion vulgaris
The Spanish slug is the most feared omnivore in the vegetable bed. It feeds at night and in damp weather, eating irregular holes into leaves, and often clears young lettuces or seedlings completely.
More on Spanish slugSclerotinia sclerotiorum
White mould is caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum and attacks many vegetable crops, especially lettuces and beans.
More on White mould (sclerotinia)Sclerotinia sclerotiorum
White mould, also called Sclerotinia rot, is a fungal disease with a broad host range that attacks lettuce, beans and many other crops.
More on White mould (Sclerotinia rot)Varieties
10 varieties‚Amerikanischer Brauner’
You will find *‚Amerikanischer Brauner’* a robust old head lettuce with reddish‑brown, tender leaves and good stand against bolting.
‚Cocarde’
A French oak-leaf lettuce, *‚Cocarde’*, with deeply cupped, bronze‑red overflowing leaves in a loose rosette.
‚Forellenschluss’
This *‚Forellenschluss’* is an old Romana salad from the Alpine region, whose green leaves are heavily speckled with…
‚Grazer Krauthäuptel’
A Styrian traditional salad with reddish‑brown rimmed, delicate leaves that copes especially well with cold.
‚Great Lakes’
This proven iceberg lettuce classic forms firm, round heads with a crisp, light interior.
‚Lollo Bionda’
The light green sister of *‚Lollo Rossa’* with the same lavishly frilled leaves, only in a bright fresh green.
‚Lollo Rossa’
The decorative Italian cut and come again lettuce with strongly curled leaf edges washed in red brown, which lift any salad plate.
‚Maikönig’
A time-tested spring butterhead lettuce that forms tender, light green heads quickly even at cool temperatures.
‚Till’
A modern, open-pollinated head lettuce with broad resistance to downy mildew and the green lettuce aphid, bred for the robust home garden.
‚Wunder der vier Jahreszeiten’
A French classic (Merveille des Quatre Saisons), known for its exceptional adaptability across the season.
Notes from real gardens
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From the magazine
Harvest lettuce all season: successional sowing makes the difference
Twenty heads at once and then nothing? How small batches and loose-leaf lettuce give you an even harvest from spring into autumn, and why lettuce will not germinate in high summer.
Sowing lamb's lettuce in autumn: the gap-filler for the winter bed
Lamb's lettuce takes over the empty beds from late summer and supplies fresh, nutty greens into spring. The most common mistake is sowing too early and too warm. Here is how the cold germinator sprouts and how you harvest all winter.
Autumn and winter salads: endive, sugarloaf, radicchio, chicory
When the summer lettuce is done, the time of the bitter salads begins. Endive, sugarloaf, radicchio and Belgian chicory are sown in summer and harvested from autumn to winter. Here is how to tame the bitterness, blanch endive and force chicory in the cellar.