How to Transplant Lettuce From Indoors to Outdoors

Lettuce prefers the cooler growing seasons and the seeds germinate quickly, so not all varieties are grown as transplants. Most transplants are head lettuce varieties, including Iceberg and Romaine types, because these are less frost tolerant and develop more slowly than leaf lettuce varieties. Start transplants indoors two to three weeks before you plant them in the garden or purchase healthy transplants from a garden center or nursery. Lettuce requires only minimal preparation to transplant well.

Hoe
Fertilizer
Trowel

Instructions

- 1
  Set the lettuce transplants outdoors in a protected area during the daytime, beginning five to seven days before transplanting. Bring the plants in at night or when frost in the forecast. A short period of outdoor acclimation helps avoid transplant shock.
- 2
  Prepare the garden bed for transplanting in mid-spring when the soil thaws and begins to dry out. Break up the top 6 inches of soil with a hoe and work in your preferred fertilizer at the rate recommended on the label.
- 3
  Lift the lettuce seedlings from the nursery pots, taking care to avoid damage to the stems and roots. Leave the soil ball around the roots intact.
- 4
  Plant the seedlings in the garden bed at the same depth they were growing at previously. Space head lettuce 12 inches apart in the row, leaving a row spacing of 12 to 18 inches. Space leaf lettuce 4 to 6 inches apart.
- 5
  Water the garden bed thoroughly after transplanting so the top 6 inches of soil becomes moist.

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