Growing Lettuce: A Complete Profile

By GardenPlanner Team · July 17, 2026

If you want a first-garden success story in under six weeks, lettuce is it. It germinates reliably, tolerates a light frost, and — unlike a lot of vegetables — you can harvest outer leaves gradually instead of waiting for one big harvest day.

What to expect

Lettuce is a cool-season crop through and through. It grows best in the mild weeks of spring and fall, and it bolts (sends up a bitter flower stalk) once daytime temperatures push into the 80s. Succession planting — sowing a new small batch every couple weeks — keeps a steady supply going instead of one big flush that bolts all at once.

Common problems

Bitterness almost always means the plant bolted from heat stress, not a soil problem. If your season’s warming up fast, plant in a spot that gets afternoon shade to buy a few extra weeks.

Where this fits in your garden

Lettuce is a great “filler” crop — its shallow roots don’t compete with deeper-rooted neighbors like carrots or tomatoes, which is why it shows up so often as a companion. See the full companion guide for lettuce, and note it’s one of the highest-density plants in the Garden Designer’s square-foot grid — four plants per square foot.

Companion planting guide for Lettuce ·Find your planting dates

Where to buy lettuce seeds

• Botanical Interests
• True Leaf Market
• Burpee

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