Does lettuce like sun or shade?

[Bruce W.1]

Thought I try growing lettuce in pots on my balcony, which faces north and get little direct sun.

Does lettuce like shade or lots of direct sunlight?

Any recommendations on the type of pot to use would also be appreciated.

Thanks for your help.

[Ruth Levin]

Hi Bruce:

You can answer most of your gardening questions by going here and typing in a word, for example: "lettuce"

or go here to answer your lettuce question.

'enry VIII

[Alan Sung]

Lettuce likes lots of direct sun. Needs lots of water also.

-al sung Hopkinton, MA (Zone 6a)

[dps]

Spring and fall lettuce do fine in full sun. In hot weather, lettuce will do better in part shade. However, lettuce will grow in moderately shady spots although it may be slower than in direct sun.

I generally advise against the practice of pulling a few leaves off the lettuce at a time. This encourages the plant to bolt (try to set seed), at which time the leaves get a bitter taste. Better to pull up the whole plant, with roots, wash off the roots and put into a plastic bag with a little water around the roots and keep in the fridge. It will last a couple of weeks that way (unless it gets eaten first).

Try to plant sequential crops of lettuce, not just one planting in the spring. I plant lettuce every week, although for a limited size garden every two weeks would probably be OK. Hot weather encourages bolting in lettuce, so when it's hot, harvest the lettuce early. This produces somewhat smaller heads, but at least you get something out of it.

Lettuce will also take fairly cold weather. I've had lettuce survive

20F, although at that level it gets a fair amount of tipburn. 25-28F is generally no problem. Red edge lettuce does better than green lettuce as far as withstanding frost (at least the varieties I grow). Not sure about lettuce in pots: at least in the field the ground will store more heat from the day than a pot in the open air. On the other hand, the pot is portable and you could just take it in at night.

Lettuce needs a moderate amount of water. It's not a wetland plant, but it certainly doesn't like xeriscapes. I would estimate that it would need to be watered in a pot every 2-3 days, possibly 1-2 days in really hot weather.

[TOM KAN PA]

____Reply Separator_____ Once it's in the fridge???

[Swyck]

Still needs sun. Thats why it wilts if you leave it in the fridge. Buy one of those glass door fridges and position it near an east facing window.

Swyck

[TOM KAN PA]

____Reply Separator_____ You mean one of the ones designed to keep wine in?

[Janice]

Lettuce wilts in the fridge because if it's a self defrosting fridge.. which most are now.. it blows hot air into the fridge and freezer every so often to melt any ice crystals that have formed. This eve evaporates ice in the ice trays. It dehydrates foods!

Janice