Leafy vegetables: when to plant them
Lettuce, spinach, rocket, chard, radicchio, endive, lamb's lettuce and celery are sown at several points in the year. Heat can make them bolt: the sheets give the months by region.
These are the leafy crops: lettuce, spinach, rocket, chard, radicchio, endive, lamb's lettuce and celery. They are sown at several points in the year, often in batches, and heat is the limit the sheets keep coming back to. Past a point the plant bolts.
Lettuce is sown outdoors from late March to late July, and from August to October if the variety is for cold weather. In Sicily, above 30 °C for several days, it bolts. Spinach is sown with the air around 15-20 °C, in mid to late spring and again in late summer. Rocket goes outdoors from April to early September. Chard is sown from April to July. Radicchio, for the RHS, is sown indoors in April and May and outdoors in June and July. Endive wants soil of at least 15 °C. Lamb's lettuce is sown from mid to late summer for winter salads. Celery is sown indoors at no less than 15 °C and planted out in late May or early June: if it sits below 10 °C for more than 12 hours while young, it flowers.
Sow little and often, not the whole packet in one day. The month for your region, the depth and the note on water are on the sheet.
When to plant lettuce?
When to plant spinach?
When to plant rocket?
When to plant chard?
When to plant radicchio?
When to plant endive?
When to plant lamb's lettuce?
When to plant celery?Frequently asked questions
Why do the leaves bolt?
Because of heat, and in a few cases because of cold while the plant is young. Lettuce, in Sicily, bolts above 30 °C for several days. Spinach bolts in the heat. Celery, if it stays below 10 °C for more than 12 hours while young, sends up a flower instead of a stem.
Are they sown only once?
No. Lettuce, spinach, rocket and baby-leaf chard are repeated in batches through the window on the sheet, so the harvest does not arrive all at once.
Which of them also run into autumn and winter?
Cold-tolerant lettuce is sown from August to October. Spinach, in Sicily, also in September-October, and in Campania it has an autumn-winter cycle. Radicchio and lamb's lettuce are aimed at cold salads. Endive, in Campania, is also transplanted in September, with winter under a tunnel.
Do they all get transplanted?
No. Among the leaves, celery is the one sown indoors and planted out in late May or early June. Lettuce, spinach and rocket are also sown where they will grow. The sheet has the detail.
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See also: Planting calendar · Guides