Lettuce is one of the most forgiving vegetables for a New Zealand home garden, and one of the few you can sow across most of the year rather than in a single short window.
Lettuce is one of the most forgiving vegetables for a New Zealand home garden
In Auckland, Bay of Plenty, Waikato and Wellington, lettuce can be sown almost year-round: January through May and August through December. Only the depths of winter, June-July, are left out, since growth simply slows too much in the cold and short days to be worth sowing then. In Canterbury and Otago, the window shifts slightly later: August through March, which covers spring, summer and into early autumn.
Because that window includes the height of summer, it pays to choose varieties suited to the season. Looser-leaf and heat-tolerant types cope better with summer sowings, while classic heading varieties often do best in the cooler shoulder months. Regardless of variety, sowing little and often (a short row every couple of weeks) gives a steady supply of heads rather than a single glut that all matures at once.
Lettuce prefers partial sun and moderate, consistent watering. Space plants around 30cm apart, and expect a head in 40-70 days depending on variety and season. It's a genuinely fast crop compared to most vegetables, which makes it a good one to interplant between slower-growing crops like tomatoes or brassicas while they establish.
Aphids, slugs and snails, whitefly and downy mildew are the main problems to watch for, with slugs and snails often the most damaging to young seedlings specifically. Carrots, cucumber, radishes and strawberries are all good companions for lettuce; avoid planting it near beans.