very easy · windowsill
How to grow cut-and-come-again lettuce
Loose-leaf varieties let you harvest outer leaves repeatedly instead of taking the whole head, so one tray feeds you for weeks.
Lactuca sativa · Asteraceae
Why bother
Bagged salad is washed in chlorinated water and has a very short life. Leaves picked minutes before eating are a genuinely different thing.
What it needs
- Light
- 4-6 hours. Tolerates partial shade better than most crops, and prefers it in high summer.
- Water
- Consistently moist. Lettuce turns bitter and bolts if it dries out.
- Soil
- Multipurpose compost with good moisture retention.
- Temperature
- 10-20C. Struggles above about 25C, when it bolts.
- Container
- A wide, shallow trough at least 15cm deep works better than a deep pot.
- Time to harvest
- 4-5 weeks for baby leaves.
Step by step
Day 0
Sow thinly
Scatter seed across damp compost and cover with 5mm. Lettuce seed needs light to germinate, so do not bury it deep.
Days 3-10
Keep cool and moist
Germination is fastest around 15-18C. Very warm spots suppress it.
Week 2
Thin to spacing
Thin to about 5cm apart for baby leaves. The thinnings are edible.
Week 4 onward
Harvest the outer leaves
Take outer leaves only, leaving the central growing point intact. Done properly this repeats for four to six weeks.
What usually goes wrong
Plant shoots upward and leaves turn bitter
Cause: Bolting, triggered by heat or drought stress.
Fix: Move somewhere cooler, keep water steady, and sow again — bolted lettuce does not recover.
Ragged holes in leaves overnight
Cause: Slugs or snails, even several floors up.
Fix: Check under the pot rim after dark and remove them by hand. A copper tape ring around the pot also works.
Grows well beside
Spring onions, Carrot
Before you eat anything you grow: be certain of the identification. This guide describes cut-and-come-again lettuce specifically — it is not a way to confirm that an unknown plant is safe. Never eat a plant on the strength of an app alone.