Lettuce Webb’s Wonderful – Renee’s Garden
Lactuca sativa
Heirloom Crisphead Lettuce
- Big, juicy, green leaves fold tightly around crispy white hearts.
- Heat tolerant
Love crunchy lettuce? The big wavy leaves of Webb’s Wonderful add juicy crunch to mixed and chopped salads, are perfect for tacos, and don’t get limp in sandwiches. This fine crisphead variety has big, green leaves fold tightly around crisp white heart. It is known for its heat tolerance and does better than most other lettuces were summer heat comes on fast. You can pick the whole head or just harvest the generous outside leaves for weeks.
| Plant In | Sun/Shade | Planting Depth | Space Seeds | Days to Germinate |
Days to Harvest |
| Feb.-June Aug.-Sept. | Sun | 1/4 in. | 2 in. | 7 – 14 days | Approx. 50 |
START SEEDS OUTDOORS
In cool early spring weather, start seeds in finely worked soil in full sun. Sow 1/4 in. deep and 2 in. apart in rows 6 to 8 in. apart and cover lightly. Tend carefully and keep evenly moist. Gradually thin out extra seedlings, leaving remaining plants standing 10 to 12 in. apart so lettuces have room to size up and fully mature into leafy butterhead rosettes. For a constant supply, make several sowings a few weeks apart until summer weather turns hot for a constant supply. Plant again in late summer for fall harvest.
GROWING NOTES
Lettuce thrives in cool conditions with consistent moisture. Weed, water and be sure to thin carefully to proper spacing so plants have room to mature. If birds are attracted to young seedlings, cover with floating row covers or netting. Make a shade structure in hotter climates to extend the growing season.
HARVEST AND USE
Savor young thinnings in your first spring salads. Then harvest plants by cutting mature heads when they feel firm and well-filled out. Be sure to thin properly and keep evenly moist for sweet tasting, full heads. Pull and discard or compost over-mature plants if they begin to elongate (“bolt”) in hot weather as leaves turn bitter at this stage.
