Oakleaf lettuce: sowing and growing
Want to sow and grow your own Oakleaf lettuce? This unusual leaf lettuce grows quickly and produces lots of tender, red-green, deeply lobed leaves.
Harvest the outer leaves and leave the centre intact. The head will keep growing, allowing you to pick leaves for a long time.
Harvest the outer leaves and leave the centre intact. The head will keep growing, allowing you to pick leaves for a long time.
What is Oakleaf lettuce?
Oakleaf lettuce is a Salanova leaf lettuce with soft, deeply cut leaves shaped like oak leaves. The red-green leaves are tender and look beautiful on your plate.
Pick the outer leaves and leave the heart intact. The plant then continues to grow from the centre, giving you fresh leaves for weeks.
Pick the outer leaves and leave the heart intact. The plant then continues to grow from the centre, giving you fresh leaves for weeks.
Vitamins and minerals in leaf lettuce
Leaf lettuce does not contain huge amounts of vitamins and minerals, but what it does contain is good for your body. Every little helps, right?
It contains a fair amount of vitamin A, as well as some folate, vitamin C, iron and potassium. And plenty of fibre, which is good for your gut 🙂
It contains a fair amount of vitamin A, as well as some folate, vitamin C, iron and potassium. And plenty of fibre, which is good for your gut 🙂
More about our Oakleaf lettuce
An unusual, tasty leaf lettuce that you can harvest over a long period. The heads grow quickly, are slow to bolt and produce an enormous amount of red-green, lobed leaves that are all roughly the same size.
- Variety: Salanova Oakleaf lettuce (red)
- Family: leaf
- Plants per square: 1
- Height: 15 to 25 cm (front or middle row)
- Start indoors: March to August
- Sowing depth: 0.5 to 1 cm
- Germination: 2 to 8 days at 5 to 18°C
- Time to harvest: from 6–7 weeks
- Sunlight: grows in both sun and shade
This variety produces tender, lobed leaves that stay fairly small, but it more than makes up for that with the sheer quantity. Another bonus: slugs tend to leave red lettuce alone more than green lettuce, and it looks lovely on your plate.
You receive 12 clay pellets*, each containing one seed, so sow them carefully.
You receive 12 clay pellets*, each containing one seed, so sow them carefully.
What do you need to grow Oakleaf lettuce?
Besides the seeds, you need the following to start them:
- MM air pots (small size)
- MM seed-starting mix or Makkelijke Voorzaaigrond (coco coir seed-starting mix)
- Cling film and elastic bands (only with the traditional MM seed-starting mix, not with the coco coir mix)
- One label per pot
Once the seedling is large enough to plant outside, you need:
- one 30 × 30 cm square
- Makkelijke Moestuingrond or Makkelijke Moestuin mix
- a spot with at least 6–8 hours of sunlight a day
How do you sow and grow Oakleaf lettuce?
This unusual leaf lettuce is included in the free Makkelijke Moestuin app, which explains step by step how to sow, grow and harvest it.
Every vegetable passes through several stages, which we call levels. The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and regularly asks you to check whether your plants are ready for the next one.
So you do not need to know in advance how to grow Oakleaf lettuce successfully. But if you would like a preview, you can read all about it below.
Every vegetable passes through several stages, which we call levels. The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and regularly asks you to check whether your plants are ready for the next one.
So you do not need to know in advance how to grow Oakleaf lettuce successfully. But if you would like a preview, you can read all about it below.
Pre-sowing
Level 1: Start Oakleaf lettuce indoors
Oakleaf lettuce takes about six to seven weeks to grow from seed into a plant you can harvest for the first time. During the first few weeks, the tiny plant is vulnerable to bad weather and pests such as slugs.
That is why you start it indoors, move it outside later and plant it in its own square about four weeks after sowing.
Starting works best in small air pots filled with Makkelijke Voorzaaigrond (coco coir seed-starting mix). They take up little space and provide just enough nutrition for the first stage of growth.
That is why you start it indoors, move it outside later and plant it in its own square about four weeks after sowing.
Starting works best in small air pots filled with Makkelijke Voorzaaigrond (coco coir seed-starting mix). They take up little space and provide just enough nutrition for the first stage of growth.
Care on the windowsill
Levels 2 and 3: Move it outside
As soon as the seedling emerges, remove the film. From then on, place the pot in full light, preferably somewhere no warmer than about 16°C. A few days later, the seedling will be ready to move outside.
In March and April, keep the pot somewhere protected from frost and bad weather. From May onwards, even that is no longer necessary, as long as slugs cannot reach it.
You can sink the pot into an empty square or place it in an MM-mini. It will easily hold nine pots:
In March and April, keep the pot somewhere protected from frost and bad weather. From May onwards, even that is no longer necessary, as long as slugs cannot reach it.
You can sink the pot into an empty square or place it in an MM-mini. It will easily hold nine pots:
Care in the garden
Level 4: Plant it in its own square
About four weeks after sowing, your plant will be large enough to plant outside in its own square.
Level 5: Care and the first harvest
Oakleaf lettuce needs very little care: simply keep the mix moist.
About two weeks later, you can start harvesting the first leaves.
About two weeks later, you can start harvesting the first leaves.
With this leaf lettuce, you harvest the leaves rather than the whole plant at once. Pick some of the outer leaves and leave the centre intact.
Harvesting
Level 6: Keep harvesting
Eventually, the head becomes quite large and fills the entire square.
If you keep harvesting the outer leaves instead of the whole plant, it continues to grow from the centre and you can keep picking leaves for several weeks.
If you keep harvesting the outer leaves instead of the whole plant, it continues to grow from the centre and you can keep picking leaves for several weeks.
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The next levels
During the final levels, keep harvesting the leaves until you no longer enjoy them as much raw in salads.
This variety is slow to bolt. Even so, younger plants have much tastier and more tender leaves, so it is better to harvest the whole plant well before then.
Finally, prepare the square or your MM-mini for the next vegetable.
This variety is slow to bolt. Even so, younger plants have much tastier and more tender leaves, so it is better to harvest the whole plant well before then.
Finally, prepare the square or your MM-mini for the next vegetable.
How do you use Oakleaf lettuce?
As the name suggests, you use the leaves as lettuce. They are also delicious in smoothies.
Start harvesting when the leaves are about 10 cm long. At that stage they are wonderfully tender and perfect for salads. They remain tasty as they grow larger too.
Only when the plants are more than about three months old do the leaves become slightly tougher and more bitter. Use them in a mash, stir-fry or a tasty soup 😀
So, what is stopping you from sowing and growing Oakleaf lettuce?
It is a tasty, easy vegetable to grow, you can harvest it for a long time and the leaves look fantastic. Add a fresh young plant to your garden regularly and you can enjoy delicious leaf lettuce from mid-April through October.
And with our materials and app, it is almost impossible to go wrong 😀
Good luck!
And with our materials and app, it is almost impossible to go wrong 😀
Good luck!
