Lettuce | Iceberg

Grow crisp, refreshing, and tightly-headed iceberg lettuce in your home garden. Iceberg lettuce is a quintessential salad favorite, prized for its pale, crunchy leaves and wonderful texture in fresh salads, burgers, and summer sandwiches.

These reliable plants produce crisp, compact heads throughout the cool growing season, making them a refreshing and rewarding addition to any vegetable patch. Start seeds indoors before the last spring frost or direct sow early for Canada's shorter, cooler growing seasons.

Why Grow Iceberg Lettuce?

• Crisp, tightly folded, and refreshing heads
• Abundant and reliable cool-weather yields
• Excellent for fresh salads, burgers, and summer sandwiches
• Open-pollinated variety
• Approximately 65–75 days to maturity
• Grows best in full sun to part shade
• Approximately 100 seeds per packet

How to Grow Iceberg Lettuce from Seed

Start lettuce seeds indoors approximately 4–6 weeks before your last expected spring frost, or direct sow outdoors as soon as the soil can be worked in early spring. Sow seeds about 3 mm (⅛ inch) deep in fertile, well-drained soil and keep cool and consistently moist until germination.

Provide seedlings with plenty of bright light if started indoors. Before planting outdoor transplants, gradually harden off the seedlings. Choose a location with full sun to partial shade and rich, amended soil.

Space plants approximately 20–30 cm (8–12 inches) apart to allow proper air circulation and head formation. Lettuce prefers cooler temperatures and may bolt or turn bitter in intense summer heat.

Water consistently and evenly, ensuring the shallow root system stays moist, especially during head development.

Growing Iceberg Lettuce in Canada

Iceberg lettuce thrives in the cool spring and fall weather characteristic of Canadian climates. Canadian gardeners benefit from starting seeds early indoors or using succession planting every few weeks to extend the harvest before intense summer temperatures arrive.

Use shade cloths during unexpectedly hot summer afternoons to protect sensitive plants from bolting, or time crops for a robust autumn harvest.

For detailed instructions covering seed starting, transplanting, spacing, watering, fertilizing, harvesting, and pest management, read our Complete Guide to Growing Lettuce in Canada.

Iceberg Lettuce Growing Information

Feature	Detail
Botanical Name	Lactuca sativa
Common Name	Iceberg Lettuce
Plant Type	Annual cool-season vegetable
Sun Requirements	Full sun to part shade
Days to Maturity	Approximately 65–75 days
Seed Count	Approximately 100 seeds
Pollination Type	Open-pollinated
Best Uses	Fresh salads, burgers, and sandwiches

Grow Your Own Iceberg Lettuce

There is nothing quite like biting into a crisp, fresh head of iceberg lettuce harvested straight from your own garden. With its refreshing crunch and versatility, iceberg lettuce is a rewarding and essential addition to any Canadian vegetable patch.

Start your lettuce from seed this season and enjoy watching them form crisp heads for a bountiful harvest.