Luscious lettuce

As autumn moves into winter, salad lovers can look forward to planting a mouth-watering selection of lettuce, without having to worry about plants wilting, bolting, or becoming bitter from the heat.

Lettuce loves the cooler weather, although it is not a frost-hardy vegetable and needs frost protection from the end of May. In cold gardens, covering the lettuce every night with frost cloth and removing it the next morning is a small price to pay for delicious salad greens all winter long.

More and more lettuce varieties are becoming available to plant out as seedlings, although it is still possible to sow lettuce seeds in warmer Highveld areas, winter rainfall and subtropical areas in May.

GROWING TIPS

• Grow lettuce in full sun in winter in wellcomposted soil that drains well.

• Before planting out lettuce seedlings, water the seed trays so that the soil is moist.

• After planting, feed seedlings with a liquid fertiliser to give them a good start.

• Space lettuce plants 30cm apart.

• Water regularly. Lettuce that dries out is bitter.