Lettuce is known to be one of the most popular vegetables that are widely cultivated in the United States, including Texas.
It’s a cool-weather vegetable that is very easy to grow – but a lot of gardeners don’t know how, where, and when to plant lettuce in Texas.
So if you’ve ever wanted to know when to plant lettuce in Texas, that is exactly what you’re going to learn from this article. But first, let’s get to know a bit more about Texas planting conditions.
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Planting Conditions In Texas
Texas is a state in the United States of America that is known to be generally hot. The state has a mainly hot subtropical sub-humid climate with hot summers and arid winters.
The soil conditions in Texas are conducive for a wide variety of plants and crops and commonly have thin sandy loam surface layer, dense-claypan subsoils, deep sandy soils with less clayey subsoils.
Bottomlands in Texas possess deep, highly fertile, reddish-dark brown loamy to clayey soils. That’s not all; Texas is also rich in Alfisols that can support the life of various vegetables.
When To Plant Lettuce In Texas
First of all, you need to think of where to plant lettuce in Texas before talking of the when.
In choosing a site that will be suitable to plant lettuce in Texas, you must ensure that the site is exposed to the sun, it’s soil is fertile, loose and cool with good drainage, whether fall or summer planting. Also, partial shades might be needed for protection against the heat in Texas.
So when is the best time to plant lettuce in Texas?
The best planting dates of lettuce in Texas for an early harvest area are between early February and early March which should be done indoors due to the frost. But generally, the best planting dates for an outdoor planting is between late March and late July.
Furthermore, lettuce is a cool-weather vegetable that thrives in temperatures between 40 to 85 degrees so, in order words, they are best to be sown in the fall or late summer so that they will mature under the cool fall air.
Read Also: How to Plant Strawberries in Pots
How To Plant Lettuce In Texas
Lettuce should be planted indoors during summer because of the heat. And transplanted or sown directly in the garden when the weather cools down. This is highly advised to get a maximum harvest.
To sow seeds, you have to prepare the soil of the site you have chosen to plant or transplant your lettuce seedlings. Creates planting holes about 2 inches deep in rows of 15-17 inches apart. Then sow your seeds and water. Water regularly till they mature.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you now have a good understanding of when to plant lettuce in Texas. If you have read the above carefully and you put the knowledge into practice, you should be able to successfully grow lettuce in Texas.
Lettuce grows very quickly so you should be able to harvest them as soon as they are about 45 – 50 days old.
That said, if you have any question, don’t hesitate to ask us via the comment section below.
Happy planting!