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Lettuce Varieties For Your Garden
After uploading my post about how to grow lettuce, in which I spoke briefly about different lettuce varieties, I realized that it wasn’t enough information about the endless possibilities of lettuce varieties. Lettuce has thousands of different cultivars and varieties and there are many reasons why you should incorporate more of them in your garden.
![different lettuce varieties harvested from the garden](https://therealgardener.ca/wp-content/uploads/2023/04/lettuce-varieties-FEATURED.png)
Lettuce Varieties For Your Garden
In this post, you will learn about the benefits of incorporating different lettuce varieties in your garden. This post highlights how different lettuces offer unique flavors and textures, making salads more interesting. We also emphasize the aesthetic appeal of lettuce varieties with different colored leaves.
This post explains how growing different lettuce varieties with varying harvest times and tolerance to different seasons can extend your harvest period. Lastly, we mention lettuce varieties that have superior resistance to pests and diseases, which is helpful for organic gardeners.
Flavour and Texture
Different lettuces offer different flavour profiles in the kitchen. Incorporating a variety of different greens can make a boring salad more exciting. Some are sweet, some bitter, some crunchy, and some tender.
Aesthetics
Many lettuce varieties grow different coloured or multi-coloured leaves. These are not only aesthetically-pleasing in the garden, but also in the kitchen.
Harvest Extension
Some lettuces are specifically bred for their tolerance of certain seasons. There are heat-tolerant, drought-tolerant, and cold-tolerant lettuce varieties. These will enable you to grow lettuce during the hottest parts of the summer and coldest parts of the winter, therefore extending your harvest.
There are also different harvest times for every variety. This means you can harvest your looseleaf varieties in 1 month, while still having your romaine ready the following month.
Pest and Disease Resistance
If you struggle to stay on top of the pests and diseases, there are lettuces that have superior resistance to common ones like aphids and powdery mildew. This is especially important to organic gardeners, as we are not using pesticides to rid our plants.
Oftentimes it is a combination of all of these reasons why you would want to grow different lettuce varieties.
Categories of Lettuce Varieties
Lettuce varieties are separated into 4 different categories known as butterhead, crisphead, looseleaf, and romaine.
Butterhead varieties are varieties that are smooth and “buttery” when eaten, and they typically form a whole head to be harvested all at once.
Crisphead varieties are lettuce varieties that are very crispy when eaten, and are great in cooler conditions. However, in terms of nutritional content, crispheads fall short as they are mostly made of water.
Romaine varieties are probably the most popular among all the lettuce, and they are great for warmer conditions. Romaines are also meant to be harvested for the whole head.
Looseleaf varieties are lettuce varieties that are characterized by their loose leaf arrangement. That being said, they are meant to be harvested one leaf at a time, until the center crown is left to regrow.
![lettuce varieties grown in rows in a raised garden bed](https://therealgardener.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/lettuce-varieties-INSIDE-1024x678.png)
Different Lettuce Varieties For Your Garden
If you want to buy any of the mentioned lettuce varieties, simply click on its name to buy from SeedsNow!
- Slo-Bolt – Slo-bolt lettuce is a looseleaf variety, ready to harvest in about 50 days. As the name suggests, the variety is very slow to bolt, even in the heat of the summer. It produces all summer long, but I have noticed that the leaves do become bitter in a lot of direct sunlight.
- Parris Island Cos – Parris Island Cos is a classic romaine variety. It is heat and tip-burn resistant. Stays crunchy when watered well. There’s nothing much to say; it’s romaine lettuce!
- Little Gem – Little gem lettuce is another romaine variety, producing 6 inch tall, personal heads that are ready to harvest in 50 days. Due to their small size, they can be planted very close together and are therefore good for any small-space gardener. It is also quite resistant to many common lettuce diseases.
- Black-Seeded Simpson – One of the most common varieties, black-seeded Simpson is a looseleaf variety, reaching maturity in about 45 days. It is known for its ruffled, crisp, and juicy leaves, and it is fairly heat-tolerant. It is also slightly more cold-resistant and will tolerate a light frost.
- Green Forest – This is a great all-round variety, resisting heat, tip burn, and cold temperatures (reliably -15°C unprotected!). It is also good for poorer quality soils with less nutrients, if that’s a concern of yours.
- Lollo Rosso – A looseleaf Italian variety, known for its red, ruffled, nutty, and slightly bitter leaves, that matures in 60 days. It is slower to bolt than other varieties, but prefers to grow in cooler temperatures. It even won the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit.
- Burgundy Boston – A beautiful multi-colored lettuce variety that is extremely popular among gourmet chefs and restaurants for its appearance and texture.
- Dark Green Romaine – Another romaine variety known for its popularity, upright growth, nutrient density, and use in Caeser salads.
To view a full list of lettuce varieties for your garden, check out the wide variety from SeedsNow.
Frequently Asked Questions
In my opinion, the best lettuce variety is slo-bolt lettuce. This variety is incredibly heat-resistant, which is perfect for our scorching summers.
Lettuce varieties are broken down into 4 categories: butterhead, crisphead, looseleaf, and romaine.
Romaine and buttercrunch varieties are best for salads. Romaine is crispy and juicy, while buttercrunch is soft and tender.
Most lettuce varieties mature quickly, in about 4-6 weeks.
Products:
For organic, non-GMO garden seeds, check out SeedsNow.
For gardening equipment, check out Bootstrap Farmer.
For organic all-purpose fertilizers, check out Arber.
Conclusion
These are just a few of the literal thousands of lettuce varieties to grow in your garden. I always recommend studying your area’s weather and temperature patterns before purchasing any “specialty” varieties.
Do your research on different varieties and which ones will do best in your climate. But don’t let this discourage you from trying different varieties; if you want to try a variety, go for it! Don’t just grow boring romaine lettuce.
If you want to learn more about gardening, foraging, nature, and sustainability, check out The Real Gardener on Instagram, YouTube, and Pinterest.