How to Grow Lettuce in Pots?

Marie Iannotti
July 31, 2022

Growing lettuce in a container is a good option to help protect it from pests. You also can keep the container in a convenient spot for harvesting. Make sure to check the space requirements for your particular lettuce variety. In general, a container that’s six to 12 inches across should suffice. Make sure it has drainage holes. Unglazed clay is an ideal container material, as it will allow excess soil moisture to escape through its walls.

Pruning: The only pruning maintenance lettuce needs is harvesting its mature leaves. Also, trim off any broken leaves that drag on the ground to prevent them from introducing pests and diseases to the plant.

Propagating Lettuce: Lettuce is commonly grown from seeds. But it also can be regrown from scraps. This won’t provide as large of a harvest as your initial planting, but it is an inexpensive and easy way to get more lettuce. Here’s how:

- Cut off the bottom of the lettuce, leaving only about an inch of leaves on the base.

- Put the base in a shallow dish of water by a sunny window.

- Change the water every couple of days. You should see some root and leaf growth in about a week.

- Harvest the leaves in two weeks. At this point, they’ll likely be as large as they will grow and will only degrade from there.