How to Grow Lettuce from Seed in Pots, the Pros and Cons of Eating It Raw, and Simple, Delicious Recipes

Lettuce, commonly known as leaf lettuce, can be eaten raw; it is crisp and refreshing with a slight sweetness. In recent years, its cultivation area has expanded rapidly, and more and more people like to grow it in pots at home. So do you know how to grow lettuce from seed in pots? How do you make it delicious and simple? What are the pros and cons of eating it raw?

I. How to Grow Lettuce from Seed in Pots

1. Know the sowing time:

Lettuce likes a cool climate, so sowing is generally done in spring and autumn. In spring, sowing usually starts from February to April, and it can be harvested in May to June; for autumn sowing, you can start sowing at the end of August, and it can be harvested in September to October. Because different lettuce varieties have different characteristics, when choosing the sowing time, gardening enthusiasts should first read the instructions for the lettuce seeds they bought, and then combine that with the sowing times above.

A little extra knowledge: spring and summer are suitable for sowing loose-leaf lettuce (such as butterhead lettuce and colored-leaf lettuce), which is more heat-tolerant; autumn and winter are suitable for sowing head lettuce (also called iceberg lettuce), which is not heat-tolerant.

2. Lettuce sowing method:

① Sowing: usually start with seedlings first. Lettuce seeds are too small and light, so they need to be mixed with fine sand, placed in a container and stirred evenly, then scattered onto the soil, covered with 0.5-1 cm of soil, a thin layer. At 15-20°C, they sprout in about 3-5 days. When the temperature is above 25°C, sprouting is difficult. When planting in summer, germination must be promoted: soak the seeds for 1 night, then wrap them in moist gauze, put them in the refrigerator's cold storage compartment (around 5°C), and sow again when more than half of the seeds have sprouted white.

② Seedling stage: keep the soil moist, not dry, and keep the soil well-drained. Thin the seedlings when there are 2-3 true leaves, with a plant spacing of 5-8 cm.

③ Transplanting: transplant the seedlings when they grow to 5-6 true leaves. Before transplanting, water thoroughly first, and move them together with the soil around the roots into a larger pot. For loose-leaf lettuce, the plant spacing is 15 cm; for head lettuce, 30 cm. Water thoroughly. In summer, first place them in a cool place to recover, and after about 1 week, once the roots have taken hold, give them normal sunlight.

④ Fertilizing: apply fertilizer once 1 week after transplanting (nitrogen fertilizer is main, and decomposed organic fertilizer is best). Then 2 weeks and 4 weeks after transplanting, apply 1 more time each with organic fertilizer or a compound fertilizer based mainly on nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Stop fertilizing 2 weeks before harvest.

⑤ Watering: during high temperatures, water in the early morning and evening. Small amounts and frequent watering are better, but avoid waterlogging. In the early growth stage, it is suitable to control water and just keep the soil moist.

II. How to Make Lettuce Delicious and Simple

1. Garlic lettuce

Besides having the effects of stir-fried lettuce, garlic lettuce also has the effects of sterilizing, reducing inflammation, and lowering blood sugar, and can even benefit the brain. Lettuce is rich in vitamins and has effects such as preventing bleeding gums and vitamin C deficiency. Garlic has the effects of detoxifying, promoting stagnation relief, and strengthening the stomach, and has a certain dietary therapeutic effect on cold pain in the abdomen, dysentery, diarrhea, pulmonary tuberculosis, whooping cough, colds, malaria, and other conditions.

2. Plain stir-fried lettuce

Plain stir-fried lettuce has the effects that lettuce itself possesses, such as pain relief and sedation, lowering cholesterol, assisting in the treatment of neurasthenia, promoting urination, promoting blood circulation, and resisting viruses.

3. Lettuce with oyster sauce

Oyster sauce is not an oil; rather, when processing dried oysters (also known as oysters), it is the soup left after boiling the dried oysters. This soup, after filtering and concentrating, becomes oyster sauce. It is a seasoning containing multiple nutrients and a delicious taste. Therefore, lettuce with oyster sauce not only has effects such as lowering blood lipids, lowering blood pressure, lowering blood sugar, promoting intellectual development, and anti-aging, but can also promote urination, promote blood circulation, resist viruses, and prevent and treat heart disease and liver disease.

4. Lettuce with tofu

Eating lettuce together with nutrient-rich tofu makes a dish that is high in protein, low in fat, low in cholesterol, and rich in vitamins. It has the effects of clearing the liver and promoting gallbladder function, nourishing yin and tonifying the kidneys, whitening the skin, and aiding weight loss and fitness. It also has a certain dietary therapeutic effect on red and swollen eyes, cough due to lung heat, diabetes-like thirst, and abdominal bloating due to spleen deficiency; meanwhile, mushrooms are rich in protein that is easy for the human body to absorb, and have the effects of tonifying the spleen and boosting qi, moistening dryness and transforming phlegm, as well as a relatively strong nourishing effect. Eaten with lettuce, they have a certain dietary therapeutic effect on heat cough, excessive phlegm, chest tightness, and vomiting and diarrhea.

III. What Are the Pros and Cons of Eating Lettuce Raw?

What are the benefits of eating lettuce raw?

1. Good taste

Eating lettuce raw is crisp and tasty, refreshing and pleasant.

2. Rich in nutrients

Eating lettuce raw is more nutritious than after cooking; cooking will definitely destroy the nutrients in vegetables.

3. Nutrients are not easily destroyed

Most vegetables contain an immune substance—interferon inducer. It acts on the interferon genes of human cells and has the effect of inhibiting cancerous changes in human cells and resisting viral infections. However, this “interferon inducer” cannot withstand high temperatures, and only eating vegetables raw can allow it to exert its effect.

What are the drawbacks of eating lettuce raw?

1. Parasite infection

During the growth of lettuce, if there is a lot of rain, the chance of parasite infection increases greatly. Ordinary washing makes it very difficult to wash away parasites, and they cannot be seen with the naked eye. In addition, lettuce is mostly eaten raw, so the more lettuce you eat, the higher the chance of parasite infection.

2. Liver damage

During growth, lettuce is very susceptible to insect damage, so spraying pesticides during cultivation is unavoidable. It is also very difficult to wash all the pesticides off lettuce. Eating too much may, in mild cases, damage the liver and kidneys, and in severe cases may even cause pesticide poisoning.

Precautions for eating lettuce

1. Eating lettuce raw has a certain irritating effect on the stomach and intestines, so people with weak cold spleen and stomach and poor gastrointestinal digestive function are also not suitable for eating it raw.

2. Although eating lettuce raw is delicious, it is not very safe. Therefore, it is best to blanch lettuce in boiling water before eating to avoid parasite infection.