[lisajpickering]

Hi everyone

I was flicking through a gardening mag the other day and noticed some pictures of raised beds crammed full of veg and, noticeably, a fair bit of lettuce.  The caption read something like "with beds as full as this, weeds can't get in".  And this got me thinking...

What if I just broadcast lettuce seeds among my other crops - I mean pretty much everywhere!  In theory it would stop the weeds - they would keep the slugs/snails busy and off my plants and it wouldn't matter if lots bolted, were eaten by pests or trodden on coz I'd have loads.

Now then.  I'm thinking there must be a downside to this theory.  The only thing I can think of is that the lettuce would take a fair bit of water and nutients that would otherwise be going to my plants (assuming I kept the weeds at bay).  But I'm new to this veg growing lark and suspect I may have missed something obvious.  What do you clever bods think?

Lisa

[DD.]

The instant draw back I can see is that slugs would breed in such an enviroment & you'd have an even bigger problem. They can't read the notice that says "please eat the lettuce only".

As for bolted lettuce - that can overshadow many a plant.

[JRRD]

I inadvertantly did this earlier this year. The earliest bit of dug ground had 3 small rows of carrots put in and soon after I thought I'll put some cut and come again lettuce between the rows to use whilst it is still young. I would get rid of it once later lettuce was usable elsewhere. But in truth I never pulled it out until I had let the lettuce fully grown and it was practically shoulder to shoulder between the rows of carrots. It was too late when I pulled it out and realised just how sickly/yellowing the carrot leaves were and how small the roots were. Bizarrely these, hard to get to, carrots were attacked by carrot fly,  and the later carrots with lots of free air round them did not get attacked at all.

[Brambles]

All that lettuce must take quite a lot of nutrients out of the soil... and I agree that the slugs and snails would have 'shelter, food, breeding ground and a good hiding place' on tap, supplied by you....  Not a good idea in my book

[tode]

I think Brambles is right. One of the main reasons for "weeding" is to conserve all the moisture and nutrients for the plants you're trying to grow and eat.
By throwing lettuce everywhere, you would effectively just swap one set of "weeds" for another. 
IMO Better to mulch between your plants.
 

[peapod]

Couldnt have put anything better than the above replies