Jan–MarApr–JunJul–SepOct–Dec
Planting
Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
← Explore Plants
Plant · P-279
Lettuce
Lactuca sativa
Lettuce grows fastest and best in the cool season, sown so it sizes up before the first freeze rather than racing a heating spring. A bitter, bolted plant is not a failure - it is the same lactucarium-rich sap prized as a mild sedative, so a few plants can be let bolt on purpose once the leaf harvest is done. Heading and romaine types need the long cool run of an autumn planting; only fast, cut-and-come-again leaf lettuce is worth sowing in spring, since summer heat outruns a head before it forms. Afternoon shade from a taller neighbour is the cheapest trick for stretching the harvest window at either end of the season.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun
- USDA zone
- USDA 5–9
- Soil
- Sand · Loam
- Moisture
- Well-Drained · Moderate
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 6–6.7
- Plant type
- Annual
- Mature height
- 6–12 in
- Mature spread
- 6–12 in
- Plant spacing
- 4–10 in
- Root type
- Fibrous-shallow
- Spread pattern
- Seed
Keep exploring
Similar plants
Discover more plants with shared forest layers or growing conditions.
Adzuki Bean
Vigna angularis (Willd.) Ohwi & H.Ohashi
Adzuki is the odd one out among the beans in this group: a very hot summer is actively too hot for it, since heat above about 35C damages…
Herbaceous · USDA 3–11
African Eggplant
Solanum aethiopicum
African Eggplant, also called gboma or scarlet eggplant, is a West and Central African relative of eggplant that gives two harvests from one…
Herbaceous · USDA 8–12
Alfalfa
Medicago sativa
Alfalfa is a deep-rooted perennial legume grown worldwide as one of the richest forage crops available, its taproot running six metres or…
Herbaceous · USDA 4–11
Alsike Clover
Trifolium hybridum
Alsike Clover fixes nitrogen in wet, acid ground too cold and heavy for red clover to thrive in, and its flowers keep bees working all season…
Herbaceous · USDA 5–9
Amaranth Greens
Amaranthus tricolor
Amaranth greens are one of the few leafy vegetables actually built for peak summer heat rather than one that just tolerates it - sown once…
Herbaceous · USDA 2–11
Anise
Pimpinella anisum
Anise is a single-season annual grown for its aromatic seed, which flavors bread, sweets and spirits like pernod and ouzo, while the young…
Herbaceous · USDA 4–9
The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference
- Locked research reference