Lettuce can be seeded in the spring as soon as the soil can be worked. Days to maturity are from direct seeding in spring conditions, subtract 10-14 days if transplanting, subtract 7-10 days if planting in summer conditions, add 20 days if planting late summer-fall In certain areas, lettuce can be grown throughout the summer by choosing varieties which are heat tolerant; however, many lettuce varieties have difficulty germinating in soils above 75°F.  Start transplants 3-4 weeks before setting out.  Sow seeds 4 per inch in flats or small-cell plug trays, barely covering with fine soil.  If sowing into flats, transplant 2 weeks later into plug trays, pots, or into another flat at 1-2” apart.

Cut lettuce holds best when harvested in the morning and cooled rapidly.  For salad mix or baby leaf production, harvest individual leaves when they reach desired size, or cut evenly across the bed making sure to stay above the growing tip.  For a continuous harvest, sow lettuce every 3 weeks.

Self-pollinated. Lettuce varieties will not cross pollinate with each other even at short distances, but beware of any wild lettuce which can cross with lettuce. Allow plants to "bolt" and eventually flower. Under wet conditions lettuce plants may need to be covered with a rain cover or grown in a greenhouse to prevent fungus from infecting the plant and seed heads. Carefully shake the seedheads into a paper bag to allow the mature seeds to be collected while leaving the immature seeds and flowers to keep growing. Gather every few days until no more seeds remain. Also, you can simply harvest the entire plant when about half of the seeds are mature and allow the rest to mature inside by standing up the plants in a box and on a cloth or tarp. Use an 1/8" screen to help with cleaning. Lettuce seed can remain viable for 3 years under cool and dry storage conditions.