5 Ideas for Rising Lettuce in Raised Beds

Lettuce is likely one of the most versatile crops on the market. You employ child leaves in salads, get pleasure from huge leaves on sandwiches, and use tender leaves for lettuce wraps. And never solely does lettuce have a number of makes use of within the kitchen, nevertheless it’s additionally straightforward to suit into your backyard.

When you plan on rising lettuce in a raised mattress, you’re in luck! Raised beds present an excellent residence for lettuce attributable to their glorious drainage and straightforward accessibility. Nonetheless, earlier than you plant these leafy greens in raised beds, you need to preserve these 5 ideas in thoughts.

Pay Consideration to the Selection

When it’s time to develop lettuce, you could have nearly countless choices. There’s the dense, crisp romaine that’s a begin of Caesar salads, tender butterhead varieties which are excellent for lettuce wraps, and crunchy crisphead that holds up effectively on sandwiches. You’ll find handfuls of particular person varieties inside these broad classes, making selecting a single selection troublesome.

After I determine which sort of lettuce I need to develop, I have a look at the completely different cultivars obtainable. Every selection has particular illness resistance, warmth tolerance, chilly tolerance, and days to maturity. Discovering a spread that holds the traits you’re on the lookout for is an important a part of rising a wholesome crop.

I wish to plant a number of completely different lettuce varieties all year long since every one has distinctive attributes. For instance, I plant varieties like ‘Buttercrunch’ and ‘Vivian’ in spring since cooler days result in supple leaves and stop bolting. When hotter climate arrives, I swap to heat-tolerant choices like ‘New Pink Fireplace.’ Whereas no lettuce loves the warmth, some varieties can stand up to summer time warmth with out bolting and changing into bitter. Fall lettuces are sometimes just like these planted in spring, however I search for cold-tolerant varieties if I plant to develop the lettuce into the winter.

When you discover a particular selection you want, be sure to jot down it down! And simply because a spread didn’t develop effectively in July or September, it doesn’t imply it received’t develop effectively at different instances of 12 months. Experimenting with a number of varieties every season will assist you discover cultivars which are well-suited to your particular local weather and raised mattress backyard.

Plant on the Correct Spacing

When you’ve decided which lettuce selection you’ll plant in your raised mattress, it’s time to determine how a lot room it must develop. Like with most greens, you’ll be able to harvest lettuce at any time. Nonetheless, if you wish to develop a big head of romaine or a buttercrunch that may feed a whole household, it’s a must to be sure your lettuce has sufficient room to broaden.

First, have a look at your seed packet. Most packets ought to give a spread of numbers for satisfactory plant spacing. Many sorts of lettuce develop effectively 9-12 inches aside, however some can deal with narrowing spacing, and others develop finest at wider spacing.

When you’re rising lettuce with different crops, let the spacing function a information quite than a tough rule. For instance, you’ll be able to tuck lettuce vegetation slightly nearer to trellised snap peas for the reason that peas received’t intrude with the lettuce’s progress.

Lastly, bear in mind that you may develop lettuce at any dimension. If you wish to develop child greens for a salad combine, you’ll be able to plant a number of seeds per inch. As an alternative of planting the seeds in a dense block, plant them in rows with a number of inches of area between every row. The rows save area and make harvesting straightforward, whereas the area between them permits for airflow and helps forestall illness.

Assume About Temperature

Rising lettuce within the floor and in a raised mattress is fairly comparable. Nonetheless, one of many largest variations between these two rising environments is their soil temperature.

Since raised beds are uncovered to the air, the soil warms and cools quicker than the soil within the floor. Meaning raised beds heat up faster in summer time and funky down extra quickly in winter. It additionally signifies that the beds expertise bigger fluctuations in temperature between the day and night time.

So, what does this imply for rising lettuce? Nicely, should you’re rising in a raised mattress, count on lettuce to bolt extra shortly in summer time and freeze quicker in winter. You’ll be able to at all times affect the temperature by utilizing row covers and shade fabric, however being conscious of those variations can assist you choose the appropriate varieties and plant them on the proper time.

If you would like your raised mattress to expertise much less fluctuations in temperature, you’ll be able to place it towards the south-facing facet of a construction. This placement means the vegetation will nonetheless obtain loads of solar, however the construction will present a little bit of a buffer towards modifications in temperature.

Hold the Soil Moist, Not Moist

One of many advantages of raised beds is the superb drainage they supply. Even should you stay in an space with heavy, compacted clay, you’ll be able to nonetheless develop wholesome crops with the assistance of raised beds. Nonetheless, this glorious drainage has an affect in your watering schedule.

Once you couple the superb drainage of raised beds with their tendency to warmth up quicker on heat and sunny days, you’ll discover that the soil dries out extra shortly than soil within the floor. Due to this fact, you need to plan on watering your raised beds extra usually than you’ll an in-ground backyard.

Most lettuce vegetation like their soil moist however not moist. Fortuitously, a well-draining soil will forestall water from puddling and resulting in ailments like backside rot and drop. Your objective is to usually test the soil moisture and irrigate so the soil by no means dries out fully. Since small seedlings have smaller root techniques than bigger vegetation, plan on watering smaller vegetation extra regularly than bigger vegetation. And don’t overlook that parts like temperature, wind, and daylight additionally affect how usually you need to water.

When you don’t journey a lot and love tending to your backyard, hand watering with a watering can or hose is simply positive. However if you wish to automate issues, you’ll be able to arrange a drip irrigation system and join it to a timer. Simply be sure to test the system each week or so for malfunctions, and alter the run frequency primarily based on soil moisture ranges. Bear in mind, the soil must be moist however not soaking moist!

Plant Greater than As soon as

One of many largest errors I see residence gardeners make is planting a crop as soon as! Positive, you solely have to plant a single tomato or cucumber plant to get pleasure from weeks of contemporary produce, however that’s not the case with lettuce! When you plant 5 romaine seedlings on the similar time in spring, you’ll have 5 mature heads which are prepared to reap on the similar time. However should you by no means plant any extra seedlings, that’s the one homegrown lettuce you’ll need to get pleasure from.

For a steady provide of lettuce, plant new seeds or seedlings each two to a few weeks. The follow of planting a number of rounds of a crop is named succession planting, and it’s how farmers provide a steady provide of lettuce or arugula all through the rising season.

When you plan on direct sowing lettuce seeds in your backyard, take be aware that these seeds received’t germinate at excessive temperatures. If the air is above 85°F (29°C), contemplate beginning your seeds inside after which transplanting them into your backyard.