When is the best time to plant lettuce seeds?

Lettuce seed planting time

Lettuce is an annual or biennial herb. It will germinate in a few days after the seeds are sown. Prepare suitable loose soil. After sowing the lettuce seeds, maintain a suitable temperature and expose them to proper scattered light. They will germinate in about a week. The growth cycle is 80-100 days. If you want to plant lettuce in the future, it is best to do so in early spring or late autumn.

How to plant lettuce seeds

1. Land preparation and fertilization: Lettuce has shallow roots and weak absorption capacity, so loose sandy soil is best. Choose a high, well-drained, and dry plot of land. Apply enough base fertilizer before sowing, then deep plowing, knock and crush the soil, then level it, cover it with a layer of mulch and prepare for planting.
2. Sowing (1) To ensure that the seeds can germinate smoothly, they need to be processed before sowing. Soak the seeds in clean water for about 6 hours, then wrap them with a wet towel to start germination.
(2) After germination, you can sow the lettuce seeds. Lettuce seeds are relatively small, so when sowing, mix them with fine soil and then scatter them. Water the soil thoroughly before sowing. On average, sow 2-3 grams of seeds per square meter. After sowing, cover with a thin layer of fine soil.
3. Planting management: To ensure its rapid and strong growth during planting, the spacing and row spacing should be maintained at 25cm×30cm, and water should be applied in time to promote root development and keep the soil moist. If planting is done during the high temperature period in summer, appropriate shading should be provided to prevent damage to the seedlings.

Lettuce seed collection

The flowering and fruiting period of lettuce is from February to September. Appropriate methods need to be used to harvest lettuce. When harvesting lettuce, you can use a sickle to cut the plant from the roots, and then remove the old yellow leaves at the bottom to help the plant save nutrients. After harvesting, you can use tape or hemp rope to tie the lettuce together and store it in a cool environment. When harvesting, you need to be careful not to damage the asparagus roots to avoid rot of the wounds.

Lettuce seeds look like

The seeds of lettuce are yellow-white, oblanceolate, elliptical or elliptical-oblanceolate, with an acute, short acuminate or rounded apex, and are sessile. The leaves at the bottom of the panicle branches and the leaves on the panicle branches are extremely small, and cannot be seen clearly without careful observation.