Lettuce – pretty in your flower beds.

When choosing lettuce, you really are spoilt for choice. I like the texture and taste of Cos type lettuce so I always grow a row or two of them. I start them off  by sowing a pinch of seed in a 3 inch pot and when they are large enough to handle, I transplant into rows which are 6 ins apart, leaving 3ins between plants. This means that when they become a bit crowded, I pick alternative plants for salads. Lettuce seed will not germinate if the temperature is too high so you can only do this in the spring. If you want to sow more lettuce in the summer, you must do so outside. Alternately, sow loads in the spring and do not prick them out. Leaving them crowded will stop them growing and you can then plant them out when you want them. You must be careful, though, that they do not become ‘leggy’ because they are fighting for light.