Last Updated on September 13, 2026
How Many Lettuce Plants per Square Foot?
4 lettuce plants per square foot, leaf lettuce and head lettuce both. When I want big, full heads of Bibb I drop to 3 per square; for cut-and-come-again leaf lettuce, 4 is right.
The spacing pattern
| Square foot method | 4 per square: a 2 x 2 grid, about 6 inches apart |
|---|---|
| Per square foot | 4 |
| 4 x 4 bed (16 squares) | 64 lettuce plants |
| 4 x 8 bed (32 squares) | 128 lettuce plants |
Lettuce is shallow-rooted and quick, so it does not need much room, but a head needs about 6 inches to fill out. Four per square gives you a salad per square, and a new square sown every two weeks keeps it coming.
Planting the square
- Mark the square into a 2 x 2 grid.
- Sow 2 or 3 seeds at each point barely covered, lettuce needs light to germinate, or set one transplant per point.
- Thin to one plant per point and harvest outer leaves, or cut the head at the base and let it regrow.
Tim’s growing notes
My Bibb lettuce routine, from a 6-cell tray to a second head off the same base, is on the Square Foot Gardening Chart page. Lettuce also grows well through winter in a cold frame.
Soil temperature for germination
From my Seed Germination Temperature Chart: lettuce germinate from 32°F, do best at 60-75°F, and stop above 85°F.
Days for seedlings to emerge at different soil temperatures, from the same chart:
| Soil temperature | Days to emerge |
|---|---|
| 41°F | 15 days |
| 50°F | 7 days |
| 59°F | 4 days |
| 68°F | 3 days |
When to plant lettuce
These are the windows the Plan My Garden planner uses, counted from your average last spring frost. Enter your frost date on the seed starting calendar to turn them into dates. Lettuce goes out weeks before the last frost; it shrugs off cold and bolts in heat.
| Start indoors | 8 weeks before to 6 weeks before your last frost |
|---|---|
| Transplant out | 4 weeks before to 3 weeks before your last frost |
| Days to maturity | about 45 days |
How I grow them, in brief
For head lettuce I start Bibb in 6-cell trays, one pelleted seed per cell in moist potting mix, and give them three weeks on a windowsill or in the small greenhouse. They go out at three per square (four for leaf types), get watered in and mulched with leaves, and four weeks later there are full heads. I cut each head at the base and leave the stump; it regrows a second head. Leaf lettuce I sow direct and cut leaf by leaf. Either way the trick is small, frequent sowings, a square or two every couple of weeks, so it never all bolts at once. Lettuce is one of the crops I keep going in a cold frame.
The Bibb routine, on video
The chart lists lettuce at four per square, and that is right for leaf types. For full Bibb heads I go one plant lighter, three per square, and this is the two-minute version of how I get there every time: Bambi Bibb seed (pelleted, easy to handle) in Black Gold potting soil, one seed in the center of each cell of an extra-deep 6-cell tray, covered lightly. Three weeks on a windowsill or in the small greenhouse and they are ready. Water the tray, set them out, water again, and mulch with leaves. Keep them moist for four weeks and you have full heads. Cut each head at the base and it regrows a second one.
Where I get seed
Wood Prairie’s organic lettuce and salad mixes include Buttercrunch, Black Seeded Simpson and Crispino. Code PMG5 takes 5 percent off.
Quick questions
How many lettuce plants in a 4 x 8 bed?
128 at 4 per square, but do not plant them all at once. Four squares every two weeks keeps a steady supply without a glut.
Head lettuce or leaf lettuce, same spacing?
The chart says 4 per square for both. For big heads of Bibb I use 3.
Let the planner place them
Plan My Garden is free to start: draw your beds, pick lettuce and everything else you want to grow, and it places each plant at the right spacing and gives you a planting schedule for your zip code.
Related: Square Foot Gardening Chart · Seed Germination Temperature Chart · 10 Crops You Can Direct Sow Before Your Last Frost
