Lettuce Grand Rapids Seeds are an expert choice for a crisp, delicious salad.
Grand Rapids is the best-known loose-leaf lettuce variety. This variety produces medium to large upright, light green leaves. The mild and flavorful leaves are frilled and crisp. Being an exceptionally fast grower, it is the earliest to bear. This cool-season plant is slow to bolt and can be grown later in the spring than most other varieties.
SKU: 140125
Common Name: Lettuce
Botanical Name: Lactuca sativa
Growing Information
Safe for Bees
Grows Best In:
Full sun|Partial sun
Days to Germination:
7 - 10 days
Water Needs:
Moist 2.5-5 cm (1-2") per week
Days to Maturity:
45 days
Best Container Size:
45 cm+ (18"+)
Key Features
Plant Type: Vegetable
Plant Lifecycle: Annual
Fill Weight (grams): 800 mg
Approximate Seed Count: 725-775
Characteristics: Container friendly
Planting Method: Direct Sow
Water Needs: Moist 2.5-5 cm (1-2") per week
Landscape Use: Edible Garden
Growth Habit: Loose leaf
Resistance: Tip Burn
Tolerance: Light frosts|Bolt|Heat
Companion Planting: Plant near chives, onions, oregano, peas, radish, basil, zinnia. Chives, onions, and garlic can repel aphids and other pests by disguising the scent of the lettuce with their own aromatic properties. Basil is believed to enhance both the taste and development of lettuce. Radishes can serve as a useful decoy crop to attract flea beetles away from lettuce.
Flavor: Sweet, crisp, tender, and tasty
Preparation Ideas: Make a delicious salad with leaves from this variety.
Lettuce seeds should be sown directly into the garden when the soil is warm and all danger of frost is passed. Optimum soil temperature (not air temperature) should be 5-27°C (40-81°F) for seeds to germinate. Planting at a lower temperature will delay germination. Space seeds and plant to the depth indicated below. Press seeds into the soil to ensure good contact and cover with 1.3 cm (1/2") of soil. After planting, water seeds with a gentle mist or shower. It is critical to keep the soil consistently moist, but not soggy during germination. When your seedlings reach a height of a few centimetres (inches) and have developed 2 or 3 pairs of leaves, it is important to thin them out, according to the plant spacing indicated below. Thinnings can be used as baby greens. Do not allow the soil to become dry, as young plants have underdeveloped roots and can quickly dehydrate, particularly in windy conditions.
Lettuce grows quickly and more seeds can be succession planted every 3 weeks until August for a continuous supply of lettuce.
Click here to read more information on planning and planting a garden.
Planting Depth: 1.3 cm (1/2")
Seed Spacing: Sow lettuce seeds roughly 2.5 cm (1") apart in rows, keeping rows approximately 45 cm (18") apart.
Plant Spacing: 20 cm (8")
Instructions for Nutrient Care:
Feed plants SUPERthrive once per week. Mix 1.2 ml (1/4 tsp) per 4L (1 gallon) of water in a watering can and apply solution to the base of the plants.
Suggestions
Growing Suggestions:
An excellent lettuce for cut-and-grow. You can harvest leaf lettuce from the outside of the plant, leaving the central bud to grow more leaves or cut 5 cm (2") from the ground so that the base of the plant is left intact. The head will regrow new leaf sets in a few weeks to harvest again.
The key to a high-quality crop of tender succulent leaves is consistent moisture. If lettuce plants are heat or drought-stressed, the leaves turn bitter and the plants will bolt. Bolting is when the plants switch from leaf production to flower production and a flower stalk emerges.
Delay bolting by covering plants with a shade cloth so they get filtered light. Be sure to maintain watering throughout the warmest parts of the growing season.
Promote leaf production by regularly feeding with a water-soluble plant food such as SUPERthrive.
Harvest lettuce in the morning, before the sun hits the plant, when full-size but young and tender. Mature lettuce gets bitter and woody and will go bad quickly.
Wilted lettuce leaves? Place the leaves in a bowl of cold water with ice cubes and soak for about 15 minutes, spin them dry and they are ready for salads.