When to plant Lettuce
Calendar windows
Dates shift with your latitude — they are calculated from your local last-spring-frost date, not from a fixed calendar.
At a glance
Takes frost; can go out weeks before the last one.
Practical notes
A cool-season crop: sow every 2–3 weeks and skip high summer, when it bolts. Seed germinates poorly above 25°C, so sow late in the day and shade the row.
Knowing when to pick
Take outer leaves from loose types and keep the plant going for weeks; cut hearting types whole as soon as the centre firms up.
Storing the crop
Wash, spin dry and keep in a bag in the fridge for up to five days. It does not freeze or store long — succession sowing is the real answer.
Crop rotation
Quick and shallow-rooted — good gap-fillers between heavier crops.
Grows well with
Keep apart from
Watch for
Full guide: lettuce diseases and pests (6) → with spread routes, compost verdicts and the prevention this list justifies.