When to plant lamb's lettuce?

Updated 4 November 2026 · By the Orto editorial team

Lamb's lettuce is sown from mid- to late summer, and in late summer or autumn, for winter salads, with a cloche if the cold is harsh. Campania, Sicily and Umbria do not write a sowing month for lamb's lettuce.

Lamb's lettuce rosettes with small round dark green leaves in a row

When, by region

	North	Centre	South
Sowing	From mid- to late summer, and cover with a cloche in autumn. The species page says late summer or autumn, for winter salads, with a cloche in very harsh weather. The winter page puts it among the late-summer and autumn sowings.	Umbria's 2025 sheets do not name lamb's lettuce, and no month is written.	Campania names corn salad among the greenhouse baby leaves, with winter cress, chard, chicory, brassica leaves, lettuce, rocket and spinach, and writes it no month. Sicily has no sowing chapter.
How to sow	On the salad-leaf page, which includes lamb's lettuce, the drill is about 1 cm deep and the rows 30 cm apart. The final spacing, on that page, is on the packet. Species leaves reach 15 cm. The variety Cavallo, on its page, stays within 10 cm.	As in the north for the RHS window. Umbria does not write a spacing.	As in the north, until a southern guide writes its own spacing. In Sicily the name appears in a nutrient table, not as a date.

A late-summer or autumn sowing gives the winter leaves. In a hard cold spell, cover them.

Mid- and late summer, late summer or autumn, the cloche, the species' 15 cm and Cavallo's 10 cm are from the RHS lamb's lettuce pages. The 1 cm (½ in) and the 30 cm (1 ft) are the salad-leaf drill, and that guide names lamb's lettuce among the leaves in the group. Campania names corn salad in the baby-leaf chapter and gives it no month. Sicily has no sowing chapter. Umbria 2025 does not name it. Lettuce, with its own months, is in when to plant lettuce. The months are in the July calendar, August, September, October and November.

Late summer, then autumn

The species page normally sows it in late summer or autumn, for winter salads, and covers it with a cloche in very harsh weather. The spring-vegetables page sows it from mid- to late summer, and covers it with a cloche in autumn, for better leaves. The winter page puts it, with land cress and the oriental leaves, among the late-summer and autumn sowings: cut-and-come-again leaves through autumn, and through winter if covered with a cloche, a coldframe or fleece.

Sun or light shade, soil that drains. Cavallo, on its page, wants full sun, and is covered with a cloche or a coldframe for autumn and winter. Pull alternate plants, then take the larger leaves. Lettuce, which has other windows, is in when to plant lettuce.

South and centre, with no month

Campania, in the baby-leaf chapter, lists winter cress, leaf beet, chicory, corn salad, brassica leaves, lettuce, rocket and spinach. Corn salad is lamb's lettuce. The cycle times that follow, on that sheet, are written for rocket, the species most widely grown in those greenhouses, not for corn salad. A month for lamb's lettuce is not there.

Sicily has no sowing chapter. The name valerianella appears in a nutrient table, and that table is not a calendar. Umbria, in 2025, does not name it. Where the regional month is missing, the RHS late summer and autumn, and the packet, still apply. Rocket, which has its own months, is in when to plant rocket.

The salad-leaf drill

The salad-leaf guide includes lamb's lettuce, and for that group it sows outdoors from mid-spring through to late summer, in drills about 1 cm (½ in) deep, rows 30 cm (1 ft) apart. The spacing to thin to, on the same page, is on the packet. Those mid-spring months belong to the group, not to the species page, which for lamb's lettuce writes late summer or autumn.

In a pot the group goes in a container at least 30 cm (1 ft) wide, and is planted out from about 10 cm (4 in) tall. That too is written for salad leaves, not on a lamb's lettuce-only sheet. See the container garden. Keep the soil moist, especially in a pot. How much is in watering. In crop rotation salads go wherever suits you, without repeating them too often. Slugs: pests and diseases.

In the app

Every plant in the catalogue has its own sowing calendar, and weather alerts for your area help you judge whether to sow now or hold off.

Frequently asked questions

When do I sow in the north?

From mid- to late summer, and in late summer or autumn, for winter. Cover with a cloche if the cold is harsh, or in autumn for better leaves. A named month such as February or March is not on the species page.

What month do Campania, Sicily and Umbria write?

None. Campania lists corn salad among the baby leaves and writes the cycles for rocket. Sicily has no sowing chapter. Umbria 2025 does not name it.

How far apart?

The lamb's lettuce page does not write a spacing. In the salad-leaf drill, the group that includes it, seed goes about 1 cm deep and rows are 30 cm apart, and the packet gives the thinning. Species leaves reach 15 cm.

How is it cut?

On the Cavallo page, pull alternate plants, then take the larger leaves. Cover with a cloche or a coldframe for autumn and winter. A Cavallo plant stays within 10 cm.

Does it sit with the salads in the rotation?

Yes. For the RHS, salads, with courgettes, pumpkins, cucumbers and sweetcorn, go wherever suits you, without repeating them too often. A regional family for lamb's lettuce, in Campania, Sicily or Umbria, is not written.