What Lettuce Is Best To Grow On The Windowsill?

Lettuce is one of the best crops for your windowsill because it’s as easy as pie to grow and can fit snugly  among your other plants. In as little as 30 days, you’ll have access to a variety of fresh, colourful leaves to choose for your salads. So, what is the best lettuce to grow on the windowsill?

Best Lettuce To Grow On The Windowsill: A Guide

The best lettuce to grow on the windowsill is loose-leaf lettuce. You should avoid growing head varieties such as iceberg or butterhead because both can be difficult to grow. Head lettuce develops as a ball rather than as a leafy form and needs more space to grow, as well as time to mature.

Examples of lettuce you can grow on your windowsill include merlot, arugula, red and green salad bowl, baby oakleaf and black-seeded simpson.

Growing your own lettuce on your windowsill is fun, quick and easy. And, you’ll get your very own salad bar to access any time for a variety of delicious leaves.

Let’s have a look at the best lettuce varieties that will fit perfectly on your windowsill!

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Ready to Discover the Best Lettuce to Grow on the Windowsill?

Merlot

Merlot lettuce will really brighten up your windowsill with its deep red-coloured leaves. What I love about merlot is that it has a distinct full-bodied taste…almost like a certain French wine.

Merlot leaves have a delicious rich flavour and complement more neutral-tasting leaves in your salad bowl. Merlot has good tolerance of cold weather, but can take longer to grow than some other varieties (although when I tried last year I had no problems).

Merlot also works well as a cut-and-come-again lettuce – meaning the leaves will grow back as you pick them off. Just don’t eat all the leaves at once if you want them to keep coming back!

Arugula

Arugula – also known as rocket – is a very popular, green leafy option for your windowsill selection. Arugula leaves tend to be small, with an aromatic flavour.

Packed full of nutrition and ready-to-eat in just 40 days or so, arugula will add a bold flavour to your salads, pizzas, pastas – and you can even use it to make pesto. 

Red Salad Bowl

Red Salad Bowl is another colourful variety to add to your burgeoning windowsill salad bar. The leaves taste very sweet and can be harvested in less than a month after germinating. Although best grown during cooler seasons, you can also grow this variety in summer, but it may be slower to bolt.

If you want to mix up your salad bowl colours, you can purchase mixed green and red salad bowl seeds (although I personally prefer the red as there are so many green options out there).

Baby Oakleaf

Baby Oakleaf is a smaller version of the Green Oakleaf variety. It’s brilliant for tiny spaces like windowsills and for growing in containers and trays. Mature in 45 to 50 days, this variety is great for cut-and-come-again growing. 

Black Seeded Simpson

Black Seeded Simpson has an interesting history. One of the first varieties to be labelled an heirloom in the mid-19th century, Black Seeded Simpson is a durable green with juicy leaves that is resistant to extreme temperatures.

You can pick baby leaves from less than 30 days after germination outdoors or indoors and they complete their growth cycle in around six weeks to two months.

Best Lettuce to Grow on the Windowsill: How To Grow Lettuce Indoors

When you grow lettuce indoors, you will need to use module trays or small containers filled with potting soil.

It’s a mistake to sow your seeds too deeply, as they need access to light to grow properly.

You should also make sure the window you grow your seeds on is south-facing so your seeds get enough sun. Your kitchen is a great place to grow herbs and vegetables because it tends to get a lot of sun.

Remember that lettuce is fast-growing so if your seeds don’t get enough light, they will get ‘leggy’, which means the stalks get very long.

It’s a good idea to use grow lights to accompany the natural light you will get from your windows. When using grow lights, they should be placed a couple of inches above your seeds and adjusted as the seeds grow. Just make sure your lettuce isn’t overheated or it may wilt or bolt. In summer, you can leave your lettuce in partial shade if your area is particularly sunny.

It’s also important to plan ahead when sowing your seeds so you don’t clutter up your windowsill all at once. One way to avoid overcrowding is to transplant your lettuce to bigger pots and move them outside once they germinate.

Or, you could transplant them and move them to well-draining pots inside, or leave them to grow in module trays inside (this works best if you have relatively deep module trays).

Remember to regularly water your seeds – you can use a water spray to keep the soil moist as they sprout and then a small plant watering can for indoor watering. Add tiny bits of fertiliser here and there as needed.

Can I Grow Spinach On My Windowsill?

You can grow spinach on your windowsill as well as other leafy greens like kale. Both baby kale and spinach can be harvested in around a month.

Both spinach and kale are known to be superfoods – brimming with vitamins and antioxidants – so well worth adding them to your windowsill selection for wider choice when preparing food. Both spinach and kale seeds can be started in trays and moved to pots once they start to grow.

Best Lettuce To Grow On The Windowsill: Final Thoughts

Growing lettuce on your windowsill is an easy and fun way to have access to fresh and nutritious greens for your meals.

The best types of lettuce to grow on the windowsill is loose-leaf lettuce, which is quick and easy to grow. Remember to avoid the ‘head’ variety of lettuces as they can take much longer to grow and be tricky indoors.

To conclude, with a little patience and care, you can have a thriving windowsill garden and a constant supply of fresh greens on tap!