Lettuce Iceberg Seeds (Round)

• Introduction and Uses: Popularly known as Iceberg lettuce, this round-shaped variant completely looks like cabbage with slight green and white color. Read more on Growing Lettuce
• Botanical Name: Lactuca sativa
• Sowing Season: Winter.
• Sowing method: Transplantation.
  Lettuce plant is grown by the transplantation method. Seeds are first sown indoors in seedling trays or outdoors on seedbeds & later the seedlings are transplanted into the container or in raised beds.
• Sowing container: Seedling trays/ seed cups/ small polybags/Seedbeds.
• Sowing medium: Coco Peat

STEPS FOR SEED SOWING (SEED STARTING) IN A CONTAINER:

• Take a seedling tray with medium-sized cells & drainage holes at the bottom.
• Fill the cells/cups with a moist coco-peat medium.
• Hold the Lettuce seeds and sow 2 seeds per cell/cup. Since Lettuce seeds are small in size, do not sow them deeply.

Sowing Technique:

• Just put the seeds on the surface of the medium & push each seed a little inside the medium by using pencil tip, so that seeds are not visible on the surface anymore & cover it with more coco-peat.
• Or make small, shallow depressions on medium with pencil bottom. Put the seed on that depression & sprinkle more coco-peat on the top to cover the seed.
• Keep the seedling tray indoors till the seeds germinate.

Covering: Keep the seed tray in a box or cover it with paper for the first 4-5 days to encourage faster seed germination.

Watering:

• Water the seed cells with a spoon in the first week. Provide two tablespoons of water every day. Or keep the seed tray in another tray full of water for half an hour so that the water will be absorbed by the seed cells from the bottom, via drainage holes.
• If seedbeds are made outdoors, protect them from rain or direct sunlight. Use well sieved fine soil as a sowing medium & make a nice raised bed from it. Cover the bed by making a temporary roof of a plastic sheet. Water is in the form of a light shower using a watering can.

GROWTH STAGES OF LETTUCE PLANT:

Sprouting Stage: Seeds will germinate within the first 6-8 days & tiny sprouts will be visible. Once seeds germinate, put the tray on an open partially sunny spot near the window. Don’t cover the tray anymore.

• Cotyledons: The first two leaves will emerge in the second week of germination. These are false leaves called cotyledons.
• First leaves: First leaves will emerge above cotyledons at the end of the second week.
• Seedling stage: Second week onwards, seedlings will start growing into a small plant. At this stage exposé the seedlings to more & more sunlight for leaf growth.
• Thinning: After the second week, keep only a single seedling per cell/cup. Cut off the weak, small & lagging seedlings with a pair of scissors.
• Transplantation: 30 to 35 days after the seed sowing, your seedlings will be ready to transplant in container pots or raised beds.
• Container: 1) Choose a container with a minimum depth of 8 inches & a bigger spread area (according to available space & your requirement) like big Trays or crates.  2) Ideal planting mixture for Lettuce: 2 part garden soil & 1 part Organic Manure. Or, 1 part garden soil, 3) 1 part coco-peat & 1 part Vermicompost. 4) Transplant the seedling along with root ball of a medium, without disturbing its roots.
• Spacing: Plant the seedlings minimum 1.5 feet apart (45xx45 cm), from each other on raised beds or in a container.

HOW TO TAKE CARE FOR LETTUCE PLANT:

• Sunlight: Lettuce grows well under full sunlight in winter. So place your containers accordingly.
• Watering: Water your potted Lettuce plant every alternate day in winter. Water at the soil near the plant. Use a watering can and make sure that the plants get water in the form of the shower & not by a single flow. You can also make provision for watering by drip irrigation system for your raised beds. Avoid overwatering.
• Top Dressing: Apply balanced liquid fertilizer or a handful of vermicompost to each plant, every 15 days after transplantation.
• Plant care: Always look for the early signs of any insect/fungal/ any other infections. Spray appropriate medicines as soon as any symptoms of such diseases are spotted. Watch out for Snails & slugs.
• Microgreens: If you plan to grow microgreens Lettuce, grow it indoors in flat containers. Sow-scatter the seeds in a crowded manner. You can harvest it in 10-15 days by uprooting baby plants.
• Harvesting: (100-110 days from seed sowing) 70 to 80 days after transplantation, ‘Lettuce heads’ will be ready to harvest. You can get single Lettuce per plant. Harvest the Lettuce when it is full-sized, firm & solid.