Lettuce come in all shapes and sizes from long to round, tight heads to cut and come again leaves. By companion planting lettuce you can save space and improve the quality of your lettuce whatever variety you grow. Lettuce do best in cooler conditions it’s worth considering growing with taller plants and take advantage of the shade.
Companion Planting Lettuce
Taking advantage of taller plants is one consideration but it’s also worth remembering that lettuce require lots of water. Some of the companion plants listed below do not need lots of water so keep that in mind. Lettuce make a good ground cover plant, useful in preventing weed growth.
What Grows Well With Lettuce?
Lettuce can be grown as a catch crop, sown grown and lifted before they are in the way of other plants.There are many plants that grow well with lettuce including:-
Lettuce and Beans
Beans fix nitrogen in the air and so don’t take nitrogen from the soil, leaving more nitrogen for the lettuce. Growing lettuce under runner beans will offer the lettuce some shade during Summer months. As a result of the different level the roots grow at, there is no conflict for water and nutrients.
Lettuce and Cucumbers
Cucumbers and lettuce grow well together because they both need a lot of water. The lettuce will prevent weeds from growing around the cucumbers and in turn will benefit from the shade provided by the taller plants.
Lettuce and Onions
Onions are in the ground for a long period of time but they don’t do well with weeds. By companion planting lettuce with onions you will suppress weed growth and make use of otherwise dead space.
Lettuce and Strawberries
This is the classic combination, gardeners have been companion planting these 2 for many years. Some gardeners believe growing lettuce and strawberries together enhances the health and flavour of both crops. The large leaves of the lettuce will hide your ripening strawberries from birds.
There is one problem with this combination, they are both prone to slug and snail damage so be vigilant. To find out what grows well with strawberries click the link.
Lettuce and Sweetcorn
Growing lettuce through the hot Summer months is a hit and miss affair. If lettuces get too hot or dry out even slightly, they will run to seed and they become bitter tasting and inedible. By growing them in the shade of the tall sweetcorn plants you can to some extent keep them cooler.
Try it and see I have had some success with this technique as long as the Summer isn’t a record breakingly hot one. This seems to work best with cut and come again type lettuces and not so well with hearty types. Click here for the easiest way to grow sweetcorn in the UK.
Lettuce and Carrots
Carrot roots delve deep into the subsoil, and are unaffected by the much shorter roots from lettuce. The one problem I have found with this, is that lettuce require much more water than carrots. For carrots to grow long you need them searching deep for water and that’s something they’re not going to do if there is plenty of surface water.
For more information on companion planting carrots click here.
Lettuce and Beetroot
Beetroot develop deeper under ground than lettuce roots go, for this reason they make great companion plants. As beetroots are in the soil for a much longer time than lettuce you can grow lettuce in succession. A great way to save space and water.
Lettuce and Radishes
In Spring radishes need full sun to grow but by Summer they can tolerate more shady conditions. Growing lettuce and radishes as companion plants keeps the radishes more tender. Radishes also attract leaf miners that can do serious damage to lettuces hopefully they’ll be more attracted to the radishes and leave your lettuces alone.
They are both plants that don’t need to be in the soil for too long. Click here for more on radish companion planting.
Lettuce and Sunflowers
Sunflowers emit chemicals to prevent seed germination in seeds close by. So only place lettuce plants in the shade of sunflowers. For a more in depth look see companion planting sunflowers.
Lettuce and Potatoes
In early Spring when you first set your potatoes in rows, sow some lettuce seeds between the rows. These will be long gone before the potatoes grow large enough to cause any problems.
Lettuce and Tomatoes
Outdoor tomatoes will provide shade for lettuce plants but caution is needed as lettuce need copious amounts of water. Whereas tomatoes can lose flavour if they are over watered. Don’t grow lettuce too close to tomatoes 12 inches (30 cms) apart in all directions is the recommended distance.
Companion Planting Lettuce Video Summary
What Not to Grow With Lettuce
There are some plants that are compatible with lettuce but for some reason or other should not be grown together.
Lettuce and Marigolds
These plants are not incompatible as such, but marigolds attract slugs. Slugs are also one of the main destroyers of lettuce. Grow marigolds at a distance as a sacrificial plant but not close to your lettuces.
Click the link to find out more about companion planting marigolds.
Lettuce and Cabbages
On paper they make good companions because the lettuce will prevent weed growth and as the cabbage grow they will shade the lettuces. The problem is that both plants are susceptible to the same insect infestations. So by growing these together you give the pests a bigger target and grow weaker plants as a result.
Lettuce and Parsley
Most experts agree that these 2 should never be grown together, but none of them say why not. Just to be on the safe side I recommend keeping them apart.
Lettuce and Celery
This is another one of those mystery bad combinations, and again I can find no reasons for it. As a precaution it might be wise to keep them apart.
