[ThePragmatist]

Hi,

Strange question but I am curious.

I have marked out on paper my grand ambitions for my plot this year. I am ignoring the snow and the large amount of digging still to be done, and focusing on the planting.

I have an area marked out for lettuce, spinach and other salad like leaves. I was wondering if this is standard practice or whether I should be trying to squeeze them in amongst other crops?

Where do you grow your lettuce?

Cheers!

[pdblake]

I bung lettuce in any old gap it will fit in, often between rows or gaps in rows.

[Kimberley04]

Currently, my lettuces are in the greenhouse.  But when it's a bit warmer, I'll be fitting them into any gap/space that I can!

[mumofstig]

I sow/grow a few lettuce every few weeks for continuity, so slot them in wherever there's room when they're ready for planting.

eg earlier in the year - in the squash/sweetcorn bed before the squash takeover, and later between winter brassicas, cos they're in and out before the brassicas get too big.

[DD.]

Gaps for me also.

My "secret" for good succession:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=102476.msg1145741#msg1145741

[ThePragmatist]

I am also dying to try out a packet of (hopefully) lettuce that I got from a seed swap simply labelled "A Really Good Lettuce" and wrapped in a bit of lined paper.

[devonbarmygardener]

I also sow a few more once sprouted.
I do use one square bed for salad crops, otherwise they are fitted in anywhere there's a gap.

I also plant up old washing bowls for 'cut & come again' baby leaves and rocket. Punch a few holes in the bottom for drainage and they either sit in the greenhouse (like now) or I put them  by the back door.

Again, once they get going I sow a new lot.
The Rocket I sowed on March 5 is sprouting nicely already

[richy]

Any gap will do for me too

[Salmo]

I sow a row of Suttons mixed along my bean trench as soon as conditions allow. Thin out leaving different leaves so that you get a sucession of different types of lettuce. These will crop until June - the runners get planted either side of them.

[compostqueen]

I plant or sow them whenever a gap appears.  I have sowed some fancy ones into trays in the unheated greenhouse a week ago but they're not up yet. I intend to transplant these into the garden or plot once the weather allows.  Lettuces are fine in raised beds and containers.  I have a food hamper box (wicker type rattan stuff) which I use on the plot for early spring onions, radish, lettuces, etc. I can put the box onto my allotment table out of the way of pesky rabbits   

I do trays of mixed lettuces into full size seed trays in the unheated greenhouse too and they do very well, and eat these as leaves rather than leaving them to grow full size

[Kirpi]

Salad leaves in between my onion sets and early lettuces on my potato bed before the potato plants start to form a canopy.

Then, as the year begins to warm up, I grow them in the shade of taller plants like wigwam beans - but not sweetcorn as they don't seem to like neighbours!

[Sparkyrog]

I only do LG as a rule and find I can pop the odd one in anywhere ! I don't worry about rows of lettuce 

[green jack]

we are planning to put some in a bed at the side of the greenhouse? (this one) not sure really what to do?

[compostqueen]

You can raise some lettuce from seed and then plant it out into your raised bed. If the soil is fine enough you could sow the seed directly into the bed

Loads of lettuce varieties so the world's your oyster 

[green jack]

thanks compostqueen