Best time to plant lettuce in Australia
Lactuca sativa
Grown mainly for its foliage, lettuce is an annual in the family Asteraceae whose leaves usually go raw into salads, sandwiches and wraps. Some forms are grown for other parts, such as celtuce, whose stems are eaten. Its name traces back to the Roman word lactuca.
On a shared plot: suits a plot
Finishes in a season and stays within its space, so it suits most plots.
When to sow
| Zone | Months | How well checked |
|---|---|---|
| Cool | Sep to May | Matches local guides |
| Temperate | All year | Matches local guides |
| Subtropical | Jan to May | Broadly matches local guides, with some differences |
| Tropical | Apr to Nov | Broadly matches local guides, with some differences |
| Arid | Mar to Sep | Matches local guides |
Your local conditions can shift any months shown here, so treat them as a guide.
Growing details
- How to start
- Sow directly in the bed
- Sowing depth
- 3mm
- Plant spacing
- 30cm
- Row spacing
- 30cm
- Height
- 20cm
- Germination
- Best in cool soil, and often fails in hot weather
- Time to harvest
- 50-85 days from sowing
- Frost
- Hardy, takes a light frost
- Sun
- Part sun
- Life cycle
- annual
These are typical figures, and varieties differ. Your seed packet takes priority.