Lettuce Farming

Lettuce Farming
Lettuce is a cool season vegetable. It is characterized by a loose leaves and head. It is

easy to grow. You can grow lettuce under a limited space even in vegetable garden,
sack garden, greenhouse or hydroponically. It is very nutritious and rich in vitamins and
minerals. This is the reason why it is widely used as salad. Apart from salad, it is also
used in soups, sandwiches, wraps or grilled.
Apart from being nutritious, it is also low in calories which makes the crop good to be
used in weight loss programs. The nutritional benefits and and health benefits makes
the crop have a high demand.
Ecological requirements
● Temperatures - Can be grown under wide range of temperatures but a range of

15ºC to 30ºC is the best
● Altitude - Well suited in high altitude areas. Average altitude range of 800 - 2300
asl is the best
● Rainfall - Well distributed rains of 400 - 600 mm during its growing period.
However, you can water during dry seasons
● Soils - Well drained, fertile sand-loam soils rich in organic matter and with a pH
range of 6 - 8
Varieties
One of the best lettuce varieties is BRUMA F1 from Royal seeds. It gives good-solid
and compact heads. It is also well suited for warm areas.
Others include:
● Butter head - Leaves are broad and forms a solid-compact head
● Leaf lettuce - Has loose leaves which forms small or no head at all
● Romaine - Have cylinder like upright leaves which fold to form a loose head
Raising seeds in a nursery
You can sow the seeds in a nursery first then transplant to a ready bed or sow directly
in a ready bed. For a nursery you need about 200g/acre and 300-400g in direct seeding
It is recommended to raise seedlings in a nursery for a good start and break seed
dormancy.
To raise in a nursery:
● Prepare a bed 1M wide, dig out weeds and level well
● Make small drills 1cm deep at a spacing of 25-30cm apart
● Mix seeds with some soil and sow thinly along the drills
● Cover with a light mulch and water
● After 7 days when they have germinated, remove the mulch and make a raised
shade 1M high over the nursery bed
● Drench the seedlings while in the nursery with Pearl 50SC to help control early
diseases from Damping off and Fusarium wilt
● The seedlings are ready for transplanting after 4-6 weeks when they are about
7cm high
- If you sow directly in a seedbed, thin (remove excess and weak plants) after 4
weeks
Planting
1. Prepare the land well- Plough and harrow to a fine tilth

2. Spread well rotten manure at the rate of about 4 tons per acre and dig in. Lettuce
responds well to manures
3. Dig planting holes at a spacing of 30cm by 30cm (1ft by 1ft)
4. Put bottlecap (5g) per hole planting fertilizer like MAVUNO PLANTING N.P.K
10.26.10, MAVUNO vegetables N.P.K 20.10.18 or compound fertilizer like N.P.K
17.17.17. You need 50kg/acre
5. Mix fertilizer with soil well
6. Plant a healthy lettuce seedling in each hole and firm soil around the base well
7. Mulch with dry grass then water
Routine field management practices
1. Weed - Weed regularly until the crop can be able to get a good ground cover and
kill weeds on its own. Lettuce is a shallow rooted crop, weed wit care.
2. Topdress- Top-dress twice i.e 1 week after transplanting and 4 weeks after
transplanting. Use nitrogen rich fertilizer e.g MAVUNO TOP-DRESSING N.P.K
26.0.0 or C.A.N
3. Irrigation - To supply enough moisture, you may need to water your lettuce crop
especially during dry seasons. You can also apply mulch like dry grass to help
you conserve moisture
4. Crop rotation - rotate your lettuce field with crops like cereals (eg maize) and
legumes (eg beans) to reduce build-up of pests and diseases
5. Control pests and diseases
Pests
Some of the common pests include:

- Cutworm - It is a very dangerous larvae stage of a moth which cut young stems
at the base causing them to fall off and die. Spray with UMEME 2.5EC after
transplanting to protect from cutworms and kill if any.
- Diamond black moth - Are caterpillars which feed on the leaves. If not
controlled, they can cause heavy defoliation of the crop. Use HALT to control
- Aphids & Cabbage Sawfly - They suck sap, causing leaves to roll and interferes
with head formation and make plant wilt. They also carry virus which cause
diseases. Spray with ATOM 2.5EC to control.
- Root knot nematodes - Causes formation of galls which block the uptake of
water and nutrients. This causes the crop to turn yellow and result in stunted
growth
Diseases
- Black rot - It is bacteria which is common during warm and wet conditions. The
infections is characterized by dark spots on leaves, stems and roots. To control,
rotate your field, use clean seeds and plant tolerant varieties. To prevent, spray
early with SULCOP DF
- Downy mildew - A fungi which causes yellow/brown spots on leaves. Disease is
common prevalent in cool,wet weather and affects all stages.Spray early with
OSHOTHANE 80wp or CONTROL 70DF
- Leaf spot - Appears as small, angular lesions and progresses to larger lesions
and necrotic areas, which dry out and eventually collapse. It is a fungal disease
and can be controlled with effective fungicides like CONTROL 70DF
- Damping off - A fungi wic affects seedlings while in the nursery and eve after
you transplant especially if they are crowded. It causes the lettuce to have dark
brown or black rot at stem base of seedlings causing them to fall off and death.
Use MISTRESS to protect and prevent
- Lettuce mosaic virus - It is carried by aphids. The symptoms include

deformation, yellowing with brown necrotic blotches on the leaves. Control
vectors like aphids with insecticides
Harvesting
Most lettuce varieties takes 2-3 months to be ready for harvesting from the time of
transplanting. At this time, the hearts are fully developed. After maturity, you can then
harvest lettuce for the next 4 weeks.
To harvest, cut heads off with a knife. Remove damaged or old leaves then wash ready
for use or for the market.
On average and under good management, you can harvest 4-6 tons per acre

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Lettuce Farming

Lettuce is a cool season vegetable. It is characterized by a loose leaves and head. It is

● Temperatures - Can be grown under wide range of temperatures but a range of

Raising seeds in a nursery

1. Prepare the land well- Plough and harrow to a fine tilth

Some of the common pests include:

- Lettuce mosaic virus - It is carried by aphids. The symptoms include

You might also like

Lettuce Farming

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Copyright:

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Lettuce Farming

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Original Description:

Copyright

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Lettuce Farming

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Lettuce Farming

Lettuce is a cool season vegetable. It is characterized by a loose leaves and head. It is

● Temperatures​ - Can be grown under wide range of temperatures but a range of

Raising seeds in a nursery

1. Prepare the land well- Plough and harrow to a fine tilth

Some of the common pests include:

- Lettuce mosaic virus ​- It is carried by aphids. The symptoms include

You might also like

● Temperatures - Can be grown under wide range of temperatures but a range of

- Lettuce mosaic virus - It is carried by aphids. The symptoms include