Lactuca sativa Seeds | Salad Bowl Lettuce
LATIN NAME: Lactuca sativa
COMMON NAME: Salad Bowl Lettuce
Plant Profile
Among the ornamental and useful plants raised from seed, Salad Bowl Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) stands out as a low, fast-growing, annual in the daisy family. Lettuce opens its loose, ruffled, bright-green leaves in low, open heads, and the whole plant stands in the neat, tender clumps. It is a plant of open, sunny to lightly shaded, deep, rich, moist, well-drained ground. When it flowers, local bees and other insects make good use of it. It is hard to name another plant that gives this much for this little trouble.
Science & Biotechnology
The species features in the wider study of the daisy family, and its traits make it a useful subject for work on germination biology, cultivation and ornamental selection. With present-day seed handling, raising this species well within the reach of any careful grower.
Uses & Benefits
In the garden, Salad Bowl Lettuce earns its place in borders, containers and mixed plantings, and it also rewards growers who raise plants for cutting, drying or kitchen use. Lettuce is a fine, generous plant of kitchen garden and cool table. It is a fine, generous plant of open, sunny to lightly shaded, deep, rich, moist, well-drained garden. Sow in early spring or autumn for crisp heads, and leaves will come fast. Getting it going is easy; keeping it going is easier still.
Lettuce began as wild lettuce, whose bitter latex, lactucarium, was the lettuce opium of Victorian calming syrups; garden lettuce is a folate-rich staple green, and stem lettuce, celtuce, is a crunchy Asian delicacy.
Growing from Seed
Starting Salad Bowl Lettuce from seed is simple and satisfying. Sow thinly on the surface of a loose, well-drained seed compost, cover lightly, water in gently and keep the tray in a sunny spot with even moisture. Once the seedlings have made true leaves, pot them on individually and plant out when they are sturdy and conditions are right.
Our Take
Salad Bowl Lettuce has real presence in the garden without demanding much in return. Its wants are few — a sunny spot, soil that drains, and time to settle in.
Related Reading
Gardeners who grow Salad Bowl Lettuce often pair it with these related subjects: