How to Grow Lettuce Indoors in Containers

Crisp, fresh lettuce is easy to grow, even if you don't have a garden. Lettuce plants are relatively small, as vegetables go, and are very easily grown in containers. Plant an entire container with a mixture of lettuce and salad-greens seeds, or tuck individual transplants or thinned plants into containers with nonedible plants. Some varieties of lettuce have lacy leaves and look good in a pot with colorful flowers.

Indoor potting soil and/or soilless growing mix
6- to 14-inch containers with drainage holes
Watering can

Instructions

- 1
  Use 6- to 14-inch containers filled with extra-rich indoor potting soil or soilless growing mix. Lettuce grows quickly in a moist, rich growing medium. Do not use regular soil dug from the garden, because it will pack down and cause the lettuce roots to struggle to penetrate it.
- 2
  Sprinkle seeds on top of the soil. Sprinkle a small amount of soil over the seeds, so they are buried about 1/8 inch deep.
- 3
  Situate containers in full sun, such as a south-facing window without a curtain, shade or blinds. Protect the lettuce from the hot sun of late afternoon, if possible.
- 4
  Use a watering can fitted with a rose tip to soften the flow of water. Water as needed to keep the soil evenly moist until the seeds germinate, which should take about seven to 10 days. Thereafter, water when the soil begins to dry out on the surface.
- 5
  Thin the lettuce plants when they are about 2 inches high. Pinch off the roots of the thinned plants, and use the tiny plants in tossed salads or on sandwiches.
- 6
  Continue harvesting the lettuce by removing plants in a manner similar to thinning. Remove enough to leave the remaining plants a short distance apart. As the plants grow, remove enough plants to leave the remaining plants slightly farther apart every seven to 10 days, for a continual harvest over several weeks.

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