Lettuce Donation Tracker

Quick Links: How & Where to Grow | Temperature | How to Care For | Harvest Signs | Harvesting | Pests | Companions | Varieties | Preservation | Recipes | Michigan Tips | Fun Facts

🌱 How & Where to Grow Lettuce

• Direct sow or transplant 2-3 weeks before last frost.
• Space plants: Leaf 4-6 inches, Romaine 8 inches, Head 10-12 inches apart.
• Succession plant every 2 weeks for continuous harvest!
• Shallow roots – only needs 6-8 inches of good soil.
• Sunlight: Full sun to partial shade (4-6 hours).
• Soil Type: Well-drained, loose soil with pH 6.0-7.0.
• Soil Amendment: Rich in organic matter but not heavy nitrogen.

Lettuce is the gateway crop for new gardeners – fast, easy, and endlessly rewarding!
 

🌡️ Temperature Guidance:

Optimal 60-65°F. Bolts above 75°F. Tolerates light frost.

• Germination: 40-80°F, optimal 60-68°F.
• Best growth: Days 60-70°F, nights 50-60°F.
• Heat stress: Bitter leaves and bolting above 75°F.
• Cold tolerance: Mature plants survive 28°F.
• Use shade cloth in summer to extend season!

Michigan’s springs and falls are lettuce paradise – summer requires creative cooling!
 

💧 How to Care for:

• Consistent Moisture: Critical for tender leaves – never let dry out!
• Watering: 1 inch weekly, more in heat – shallow roots dry quickly.
• Mulch: 2 inches organic mulch keeps soil cool and moist.
• Fertilizer: Light feeding with compost tea or diluted fertilizer.
• Quick growth: Push with water and nutrients for sweetest leaves.

📏 Harvest Signs:

Leaf: 4-6 inches. Romaine: 6-8 inches. Head: Firm and full-sized.

• Baby greens: 3-4 weeks, 3-4 inches tall.
• Leaf lettuce: 45-55 days, harvest outer leaves.
• Romaine: 70-75 days, hearts fully formed.
• Head lettuce: 70-80 days, firm to touch.
• Watch for center growth elongating – bolting imminent!

Harvest in the morning for crispest, sweetest leaves!
 

🧺 Harvesting:

Cut-and-come-again or whole heads. Morning harvest. Keep cool immediately.

• Leaf lettuce: Pick outer leaves, leave center growing.
• Head types: Cut at soil level when firm.
• Baby mix: Cut 1 inch above soil for regrowth.
• Morning harvest: Higher water content = crisper leaves.
• Cool quickly: Plunge in cold water, spin dry.

🪲 Michigan Pests:

Slugs, aphids, rabbits, bottom rot in wet conditions.

• Slugs: #1 pest – use beer traps or iron phosphate.
• Aphids: Wash off with water spray.
• Rabbits: Fence or row covers essential.
• Bottom rot: Ensure good drainage, avoid overhead watering.
• Cutworms: Collar young transplants.

🫱🏽‍🫲🏼 Companions:

Good with carrots, radishes, herbs. Shade from tomatoes, beans.

• Carrots: Grow beneath lettuce leaves.
• Radishes: Quick harvest between lettuce.
• Chives: May deter aphids.
• Tomatoes: Provide afternoon shade in summer.
• Avoid: Celery and parsley (similar water needs compete).

🥬 Varieties:

Leaf: ‘Black Seeded Simpson’. Romaine: ‘Parris Island’. Butterhead: ‘Buttercrunch’.

• ‘Black Seeded Simpson’: 45 days, heat tolerant leaf type.
• ‘Parris Island Cos’: 68 days, classic romaine, heat resistant.
• ‘Buttercrunch’: 65 days, butterhead, slow bolting.
• ‘Red Sails’: 45 days, red leaf, very slow bolting.
• ‘Winter Density’: 58 days, cold hardy for fall/winter.

🫙 Preservation:

Fresh only 5-10 days. Not suitable for freezing or canning.

• Fresh storage: Wash, dry well, store in crisper 5-10 days.
• Extend life: Wrap in paper towels, plastic bag.
• Revive wilted: Soak in ice water 30 minutes.
• Not recommended: Freezing, canning, or drying.
• Best practice: Succession plant for continuous fresh harvest!

🧑🏽‍🍳 Recipes:

Classic salads, lettuce wraps, grilled romaine, lettuce soup.

• Garden salad with homegrown varieties.
• Caesar salad with grilled romaine hearts.
• Asian lettuce wraps with crisp leaves.
• French lettuce soup (potage).
• Wilted lettuce with warm bacon dressing.

✋🏼 Michigan Tips:

• Start indoors February 15 for earliest crop.
• Use row covers for 3 weeks earlier spring harvest.
• Summer: Grow in shade, use heat-tolerant varieties.
• Fall lettuce sweetest – plant August for October harvest.
• Cold frames extend harvest into December.
• Michigan’s humidity increases disease – ensure airflow.

🧠 Fun Facts:

• Lettuce is 95% water – more than watermelon!
• Ancient Egyptians considered lettuce an aphrodisiac.
• Iceberg lettuce got its name from being shipped on ice in the 1920s.
• Wild lettuce contains a mild opiate used medicinally.
• Americans eat 30 pounds of lettuce per person annually.
• Lettuce is the second most popular fresh vegetable after potatoes.
• Darker leaves have more nutrients than pale ones.
• Lettuce seeds can remain viable for up to 6 years!