Growing Lettuce in Australia: The Complete Guide
Lettuce is an easy leafy green to grow, needing full–part sun with consistent, light watering.
Lettuce is one of the easy additions to a home garden, and this article walks through everything behind our one-page printable guide in a bit more depth.
Succession sowing
A small, continuous sowing every couple of weeks beats one big planting — lettuce bolts quickly in heat, so little and often keeps a steady supply.
Planting Lettuce
Method — direct sow or transplant seedlings; sow shallow, seed needs light to germinate. Soil — loose, moisture-retentive, high organic matter. Timing — sow year-round in mild zones; avoid peak summer heat, which triggers bolting.
Keeping It Growing Well
Worth paying attention to:
- Keep soil consistently moist — lettuce turns bitter under water stress.
- Provide light afternoon shade in hot weather.
- Harvest outer leaves for a cut-and-come-again supply.
- Succession sow every 2 weeks.
What Can Go Wrong
Keep these points in mind:
- Bolting — heat stress; grow in cooler months or with shade.
- Slugs and snails — shred young leaves; use barriers or hand-pick.
- Aphids — cluster in the heart; hose off.
- Tip burn — calcium deficiency from irregular watering; keep moisture even.
Harvest and Storage
Signs — leaves reach usable size — pick outer leaves anytime, or the whole head once formed. Method — cut at the base, or pick outer leaves individually. Curing — none needed. Storage — fridge crisper, up to a week.
For the condensed, printable version of everything above, head to the main lettuce guide page.