Lettuce Seeds (Iceberg)

Iceberg lettuce needs full sun for 4-6 hours a day to bulk up into a proper head rather than staying loose and leafy. That's a moderate light requirement for a terrace or balcony, but consistency matters: pair that sun with soil that never fully dries out, since the plant is building a dense head rather than just sending out a few leaves.

Sow Iceberg lettuce seeds shallow, at around 0.5 cm, scattering or spacing them lightly across a moistened, well-drained potting mix and pressing them in rather than burying them. Going deeper than this slows or prevents germination. Keep the surface consistently damp afterward so the shallow-sown seeds don't dry out before they sprout.

Iceberg lettuce germinates in 5-10 days when the soil is kept moist and well lit. That's a slightly wider window than many leafy greens, so don't worry if nothing has broken the surface by day 6 or 7 — hold off judging the sowing until day 10 has passed, as long as the mix hasn't been allowed to dry out.

Thin Iceberg lettuce seedlings to 20-25 cm apart once they're established, so each plant has room to bulk up into a full head without crowding its neighbours. This spacing is tighter than head-forming vines but wider than loose-leaf greens, reflecting that the plant is putting its energy into one solid head rather than scattered leaves.

Budget 45-60 days from sowing to harvest for Iceberg lettuce, noticeably longer than a loose-leaf salad green. That extra time goes into forming a firm, crunchy head rather than just producing leaves, so patience through the growing period pays off with a visible, self-contained head instead of a scatter of cut leaves.

No, Iceberg lettuce needs no staking or support — it stays low and self-supporting right through to harvest. All it needs is consistent sun, even moisture, and 20-25 cm of spacing once seedlings are thinned, which makes it a straightforward crop for a mid-sized pot or trough on a terrace.

Yes, Iceberg lettuce suits a first-time grower well because the result is unambiguous — you either get a firm head or you don't, with no guessing about doneness the way loose-leaf greens can be. It also germinates predictably in 5-10 days, giving an early read on whether the sowing worked, and needs no support structure to manage.

Keep the soil consistently moist and avoid letting it dry out between waterings — this matters more for Iceberg lettuce than heavy feeding. Uneven watering while the head is forming is one of the main reasons a container-grown iceberg ends up small or loose instead of firm, so steady moisture through the full 45-60 day growing period is worth prioritising.

Unlike loose-leaf lettuce, Iceberg actually forms a firm, crunchy head, so growing it gives you one visible, self-contained result per plant rather than a continuous scatter of leaves to pick. That head formation is also why it needs longer to mature (45-60 days) and slightly wider spacing (20-25 cm) than most loose-leaf salad greens.

Store leftover Iceberg lettuce seeds in their sealed original pack, kept cool and dry and away from direct sunlight. The seeds are rated 100% Organic, Non-GMO, and High Germination, and keeping them dry protects that germination rate so a later sowing performs as well as the first batch.