American Lettuce Seeds 10 Seeds

American lettuce — the familiar crisphead or "iceberg" type — is prized for its firm, compact head of pale, tightly packed leaves and its clean, watery crunch. Its flavour is mild and refreshing rather than bitter, which is exactly why it remains the go-to lettuce for crisp green salads, burgers, sandwiches, and cool wraps. Where loose-leaf and butterhead types form open or loosely cupped leaves, this variety closes into a dense, rounded head, giving you that signature snap in every bite.

Planting

Lettuce is a cool-season crop, so timing matters more than anything. In Egypt, the mild winter half of the year is the natural lettuce season. In the Nile Delta, the main sowing window runs roughly from late September through February, with successive sowings every two to three weeks for a continuous harvest; the December–January core gives the most reliable hearting because temperatures sit near the ideal cool range. In Upper Egypt the window shifts slightly later and shorter, roughly November through January. Avoid sowing from May to September, when soil temperatures routinely exceed 27°C and cause poor germination and rapid bolting. Sow shallowly — about 0.6–1.3 cm deep — and cover only lightly, because lettuce seed needs light to germinate. Seeds sprout best at about 13–18°C (optimum around 16–20°C) and germinate poorly above roughly 24–27°C. As a crisphead, space plants about 30–38 cm apart in the row, with rows around 45–75 cm apart.

Fertilizing

Lettuce has a medium-to-high appetite for nutrients. Work plenty of compost or organic matter into the bed before planting. A complete balanced fertilizer such as 10-10-10 NPK can be applied before planting at about 1 kg per 9.3 m², then side-dress with nitrogen once the plants reach around 10 cm tall, at roughly 0.45 kg per 7.6 m of row. Lettuce grown in fertile ground generally needs no extra feeding, while lettuce in containers benefits from a general-purpose liquid feed every two weeks through the warmer weeks.

Care

Keep the soil consistently moist to drive rapid growth and prevent bolting — about 2.5 cm of water per week is adequate, and more on sandy soils. Water frequently but lightly, and water overhead in the morning; avoid overwatering, which encourages root and leaf disease. Thin seedlings while they are still small to their final spacing, clipping unwanted seedlings with shears rather than pulling them. This variety grows well in full sun during the cooler months but tolerates partial shade; during warm shoulder months, light afternoon shade helps prevent premature bolting. Watch for aphids, cutworms, slugs and snails, flea beetles, and leafhoppers, along with downy mildew, grey mould, and mosaic virus; floating row covers help exclude pests, and avoiding late-day overhead watering reduces disease. Harvest a crisphead once it forms a compact, firm head, and pick in cool weather and earlier rather than later, since heat and over-maturity turn the leaves bitter and trigger bolting.