Too early to plant out lettuce

louise.colley

3 weeks ago I planted lettuce in a large planter. Its been great weather and on an evening I covered with fleece.  There is not a sign of any seedlings coming through. Are these a right off or should I wait alittle longer? thank you 

BobTheGardener

I would start some more off in a small tray or pots inside on a windowsill then separate and transplant them to the planter when they have about 4 or 5 leaves.  In the meantime, the ones sown in the planter may still come-up, in which case you can use the ones started inside to fill any gaps.

koyukano

I started mine off inside also and transplanted about a week ago and they are growing well now 

purplerallim

I sowed little jem lettuce inside on the 2nd March they were though in a week. Transplanted two to a pot two weeks later. They were ready to start picking two weeks ago, so have been using the outside leaves. They are now out in the beds, put there last weekend. To start seeds its still a little cold outside, but inside they will  be fine.😁

GemmaJF

Sowed salad bowl outside a week a go, showing now.

pclark42

I would think it depends on both the variety of the lettuce, the goodness of the seed, and a bit of planning on the way, I am new to growing veg, I planted 2 types of lettuce, see the plugs, well that was a Month ago, I put them outside, and look how big they are already, thanks to the sun we are having, and I have kept them well watered, the other ones are now in the ground, however, they are not so advanced in growth.

EricsGarden

I planted lettuce in a growbag in a coldframe on the 22 March and they're doing well. I think they've doubled in size since this photo was taken 10 days ago. Lettuce are far right.

Dovefromabove

Are you growing them to leave where they are and cut as salad leaves or are you going to plant those out in the garden. 

I’ve had some Little Gems and Musette butterheads planted out since the first week in April. 

EricsGarden

Dovefromabove said:

Are you growing them to leave where they are and cut as salad leaves or are you going to plant those out in the garden. 

I’ve had some Little Gems and Musette butterheads planted out since the first week in April. 

I'm thinning them out as time goes by, moving them into pots and what remains in the grow bags will be mostly cut as salad leaves. With the exception of some old apple and pear trees my garden is exclusively for flowering plants and trees.