Vegetable / Cool season
Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce
Cut-and-come-again salad rows, balcony boxes, and spring/fall beds.
Tender, mild, light green leaves.
Seed spacing and maturity
- Days to maturity
- 45
- Germination temperature
- 45-75F
- Seed depth
- 0.125 inches
- Spacing
- 8 inches
- Row spacing
- 12 inches
- Start method
- Either
Frost-date timing
- Indoor start
- 4 weeks before last frost
- Direct sow
- 28 days before last frost
- Transplant
- 14 days before last frost
- Fall planting
- 8 weeks before first frost
- Succession interval
- repeat every 14 days
Action plan
- Can I plant this now?
- Use your local last-frost, first-frost, and soil-temperature checks before treating this crop as plantable today.
- Start indoors or direct sow?
- Direct sow or transplant depending on your soil warmth, bed readiness, and frost-risk plan.
- How much space?
- 8 inches in-row spacing, 12 inches between rows, and 0.125 inch seed depth.
- Best companions?
- Use crop-family rotation first, then pair with compatible timing, spacing, and canopy size rather than relying on a simple companion chart.
- Common failure modes?
- Heat and drought make lettuce bitter and quick to bolt. Frequent light watering keeps leaves mild. Loose, fertile soil with even moisture.
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full sun to part shade
- Water
- Frequent light watering keeps leaves mild.
- Soil
- Loose, fertile soil with even moisture.
- Watch
- Heat and drought make lettuce bitter and quick to bolt.
- quick
- salad
- succession
- shade-tolerant
Browse context
- Vegetable Catalog Category collection
- Aster Family Rotation and family context
- Cool Season Seeds Season collection
- Either Seeds Start-method collection
- Container-Friendly Seeds Practical trait collection
- Beginner-Friendly Seeds Practical trait collection
- Succession Sowing Seeds Practical trait collection
- Quick-Maturity Seeds Practical trait collection
- Fall-Planting Seeds Practical trait collection
- Part-Shade-Tolerant Seeds Practical trait collection
Related varieties
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- Santo Cilantro Carrot family · Cool season · 50 days
- Vit Mache Corn Salad Valerian family · Cool season · 50 days
Source: CSU vegetable planting guide