Lettuce - Cos

Type: Vegetable

Rotation Group: 0, No rotation needed


Image

LITTLE GEM

Britain's best loved lettuce, quick to mature and producing compact Cos type heads. Heads are a fine sweet flavour with a crisp and crunchy texture. Grows well under cloches and great for successional sowing.
Image

SWEET HEART

Sweetheart produces reliable crops of sweet, crisp, firm heads with exceptional flavour and shows resistance to tip-burn, mildew and bolting. A good all-rounder. Full of flavour with crisp, sweet heads which are quick to mature.
Image

LOBJOITS GREEN

One of the larger cos lettuces, it is very upright and yields good sized hearts of tip-top flavour and texture. Can be cut over a long season.
Image

WINTER DENSITY

Like a larger version of Little Gem in shape and flavour, you will not be disappointed by this reliable cos lettuce.

Site, Soil and Preparation

Grow lettuces in full sun in moisture-retentive soil. Early and late sowings may need protection against cold, using cloches, plastic tunnels or horticultural fleece. Prepare the ground for your Lettuce seed sowing, removing weeds, fork in organic matter or well-rotted manure. Consolidating and raking a nice fine seedbed.

Indoor Sowing

Alternatively, start lettuce off in trays of individual cells or a cell propagator. Always use a decent peat-free compost.

Outdoor Sowing

Sow seeds thinly, 13mm (1/2in) deep, in rows 30cm (1ft) apart. Sow a short row every fortnight to ensure continuity of cropping.

Thinning

Thin seedlings as soon as the first true leaves appear and continue until the plants are 30cm (1ft) apart. The seedlings you thin out can be added to salads.

Transplanting

Indoor sown lettuce seed can be transplanted once large enough to handle.

Care

Watering regularly particularly in dry conditions, a regular liquid feed will be beneficial and always check for the dreaded slugs and snails.

Harvest

You can harvest lettuces from late spring through to winter, if sown regularly using suitable seasonal varieties. Whole lettuces are ready to harvest when a firm heart has formed - cut through the stem at the base.