Crisp, colorful and nutritious, lettuce seed is easy to grow—and can be ready in just 40 days. Popular among home gardeners, it performs well in containers and the garden. Shop for looseleaf, romaine, cos and iceberg lettuce seeds for sale.
Lettuce Seeds for Sale From Gurney's
Lettuce is one of the easiest, most-rewarding vegetables to grow in the garden, containers and Grow Tubs. Choose from a variety of types, including loose leaf, butterhead, romaine or cos, and crisphead. At Gurney's we grow a variety of lettuce seeds in our trial gardens and offer the lettuce seeds for sale that represent the best in garden performance and flavor. Gurney's offers both seed packets and the easy-to-use lettuce seed tape.
Choosing the Right Lettuce Seeds
Most gardeners grow leaf lettuce because it grows quickly and can be grown from early spring to early summer and again from late summer through late fall. Leaf color can vary from green to red hues. Also common and easy to grow are butterheads. They grow in loose heads and have dark green to buttery yellow leaves with a nice tender flavor. Romaine is somewhat less popular to grow and with a longer days to maturity. Crisphead lettuce requires a long, cool growing season and can be more difficult to grow in some areas of the country.
What is Lettuce Seed Tape?
Because lettuce seeds are very small, many gardeners prefer the ease and precision of lettuce seed tapes. The seeds are placed on paper tapes that dissolve over time. With Gurney's seed tapes, you don't have to measure the spacing or worry about over or under seeding. The steps for using a seed tape are simple:
- Place the tape on loose, well-drained soil.
- Water the seed tape frequently.
Many lettuce seed varieties are available in the seed tape option. Visit our seed tape page to see them.
Lettuce Seed: Getting the Most out of Your Purchase
Lettuce is a cool-season crop that can withstand light frost and can be grown in partial shade. To extend the lettuce season, you can plant a crop every few weeks. During the cooler months, lettuce should be planted in full sun. Because lettuce doesn't like direct afternoon sun during the summer months, many gardeners plant it where taller plants, such as corn, shade it in the afternoon. Many lettuce varieties tend to bolt and get bitter when the hot summer months set in.
When to Plant Lettuce Seeds
Growing lettuce from seed is fairly easy. Lettuce seed can be directly sown into the garden when the ground can be worked in the spring. To get a jump-start on the lettuce season, some gardeners start lettuce seeds indoors and transplant it to the garden in the spring. Gurney's offers a complete line of seed-starting supplies to help gardeners start their lettuce seed indoors. Lettuce seed can also be planted in late summer and into fall.
How to Plant Lettuce Seeds
Lettuce seed should be sown very shallowly, about 1/8 to 1/4- inch deep, in loose, well-drained soil. Water well. Once the seedlings emerge, thin the plants according to the directions on the seed packet.
How to Grow Lettuce Seeds
When the lettuce seedlings emerge, keep the ground moist, but do not overwater.
How to Harvest Lettuce
After the lettuce seeds have grown, the leaf lettuce can be harvested at the baby leaf stage or the mature stage. For a continuous harvest, called cut and come again, cut the plants above the ground, and they will re-grow in a few weeks if watered and given the proper food and fertilizer. Wait until heads form to harvest butterhead, romaine, and crisphead lettuce.
