Who does not love a bowl of fresh salads greens; I can tell you from experience, homegrown lettuce far exceeds the taste grocery store lettuce. Growing lettuce is so easy, rewarding and cheap! It’s especially cheap when you learn how to harvest lettuce seeds. Let’s dive in to see how you can easily start growing your own lettuce and never buy lettuce seeds again!

Lettuce plants are all self pollinating, but it is not impossible for insects to cross pollinate varieties. If you are growing different varieties of lettuce and plan to seed save, either isolate the varieties by putting at least 150′ between them or put mesh bags over the seed heads you wish to save.

What Variety of Lettuce Seeds Should I Save?

When saving lettuce seeds you want to save seeds from open pollinated lettuce varieties. Here are some great heirloom lettuce varieties to grow and seed save.

Buttercrunch Butterhead Lettuce Seeds – This variety of lettuce is one of my favorite lettuces to grow for salads and hamburgers. It’s milk tasting with lightly wavy leaves. This lettuce is often one of the more expensive options in the grocery store, so growing your is very cost effective.

Little Gem – An English heirloom that is a mini version of romaine, but it has the sweet flavor of a butterhead lettuce. It’s produces full heads that are petite and perfect for individual salads.

Black Seeded Simpson – This lettuce produces dense growth of beautiful ruffled leaves. This is the perfect lettuce to add to sandwiches and hamburgers. Black seeded simpson is slow to bolt and cold hardy down to 25°F, so it will be one of the longer lasting varieties in the garden bed.

Skyphos Butterhead Lettuce – This open pollinated red butterhead lettuce variety looks beautiful mixed in a salad bowl with other green lettuce types.

Paris Island Romaine – This is the lettuce I have allowed to go to seed and those seeds I put away for a fall crop. This is one of many romaine varieties you can harvest as baby leaves or allow it to mature as a whole head of lettuce.

What Time of Year Does Lettuce Grow?

Whether you are planting your own lettuce seeds or planting lettuce transplants from the local garden center, lettuce is a cool season crop. I grow in zone 9a, so I lettuce in the early spring, fall and winter. Lettuce grows best when daily temperatures are between 60°F – 70°F. Those who live in grow zones where the average daily temperature is around 60°F can grow lettuce year round. Gardeners in colder climates can extend their lettuce growing season through the use of a cold frame or greenhouse.

At times, my garden will go through a period of hot weather even in the fall. Shade cover can be used to keep the lettuce cool for a brief period if necessary.

How to Get Lettuce to go to Seed

First in how to save lettuce seeds is to get your lettuce to go to seed. When the temperature is over 85 degrees, you will notice you lettuce plant gets taller and starts to send up a stalk. This is known as bolting. This stalk will eventually flower and this is where the seeds are produced. After you lettuce begins to bolt you will have about 6 weeks until you are able to save the lettuce seeds. Lettuce will go to seed in mid to late summer depending on your temperatures.

Once the lettuce plant begins the bolting process you will notice the leaves are bitter. The lettuce is still edible, but for best flavor harvest any outer leaves before the lettuce plant starts to produce a flower stalk.

The photo above on the left is not ready to harvest, however, after a week or so, it dries and the flower buds resemble tiny dandelions and now you are ready to harvest seeds.

Where do Lettuce Seeds Come From?

The lettuce plant will produce small flower heads when it is mature. The tiny seeds are contained within the flowers.

The photo above on the left is not ready to harvest, however, after a week or so, it dries and the flower buds resemble tiny dandelions and now you are ready to harvest seeds. 

How to Save Lettuce Seeds

Gently cut the stem of the lettuce flower and take it over to your work table. Working over a shallow bowl, the best way to extract the seeds is to gently roll each seed head between your fingers to break open the seed head. Lots of seeds and chafe will fall into your bowl. Repeat this process for all of the seed heads, it is amazing how many seeds are in each little flower. The chafe is simply the rest of the organic matter in the seed head other than the seeds. 

I “cleaned” my lettuce seeds from the chaff as much as possible by using a small hand held fan to blow the chaff away from the seeds. The seeds are not perfectly clean, but it will not impact the planting. The chaff will decompose in the soil and the lettuce seeds will germinate. 

How to Dry and Store Lettuce Seeds

To ensure the lettuce seeds are completely dry and will not mold during storage, you need to make sure they are completely dry before putting them in a seed packet. Lay your harvested lettuce seeds on a paper towel or cloth away from any drafts for approximately one week. After one week, examine the seeds and make sure there is not any mold or mildew present. Store the seeds in a seed packet, airtight container or plastic bag in a dry place until ready to plant.

Saving you own seeds ensures you are ready for your next garden season using your favorite varieties. It is also a money saving solution in the garden so you do not have to buy seeds over and over.

For more lettuce growing tips see my tips on Growing Lettuce from Seed.