Growing Lettuce in a Vertical Planter

One of my favorite things about my in-law’s old house in the Long Island suburbs was their garden. It wasn’t large by any means—no more than 50 square feet of actual crops—but the amount of produce they got out of it every year was very impressive. There was a near constant supply of cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, perilla leaf, and Korean peppers. What I remember the most, however, was the lettuce. It always made me curious about the possibility of growing my own lettuce in containers, including in a vertical planter.

During gardening season, my Father-in-law would be out working in the garden every day. At dinnertime, he would bring with him a heaping plate of freshly washed red leaf lettuce. We would fill each leaf with grilled Korean barbecue, rice, and various condiments, for a delicious Ssam dinner. And the same thing would happen the next day, and on our next visit, etc…

I had no idea that so much produce could come out of such a modest space! I never really had a productive garden in my life, so seeing the results was a real eye-opener for me.

Growing lettuce in containers on a city balcony

Naturally, I started to wonder how I could recreate this bounty of lettuce on my own balcony. My initial thoughts were that lettuce couldn’t survive in small spaces and the intense heat of a New York City summer. Due to these misconceptions, I never attempted to grow lettuce myself until recently.

I've since learned that lettuce can be grown very successfully in containers. With a relatively shallow root system, lettuce thrives in soil just 6 inches deep, making it an excellent choice for limited spaces. While more space is always beneficial, don’t be discouraged by a lack of room—you can still cultivate a healthy lettuce crop in compact containers.

Although lettuce doesn't thrive in very hot temperatures, it can grow well in full sun. Growing lettuce in a container offers the advantage of mobility: you can move it to a cooler, shady spot on particularly hot days and leave it in full sun when temperatures are more moderate.

Growing lettuce is perfect for vertical gardening

For my first foray into growing lettuce, I chose a vertical planter with 4 tiers. This allows me to place it on my north-facing balcony that receives full sun every morning. This placement will allow the lettuce to get enough sun each day while avoiding the intense afternoon heat.

Rather than start my lettuce from seeds, I purchased three varieties of starter plants from a nursery: Boston lettuce, Buttercrunch lettuce, and Red Romaine. Each variety has its own tier, with the bottom tier reserved for some herbs and strawberries. When it came time to transplant the lettuce outdoors, I spaced four seedlings six inches apart in each planter tier to allow proper spacing for growth.

I hope to learn the technique of trimming the outer leaves of each lettuce head, which enables the plant to regrow and be harvested multiple times. Once the lettuce has completed its life cycle after several harvests, I plan to utilize the space to plant something new for the remainder of the season.

Using lettuce in summer cooking

So, what will I do with all this abundance of lettuce? Despite its reputation as a boring vegetable with limited uses, lettuce is actually quite versatile. I enjoy incorporating it into a variety of summer dishes where it serves as a perfect supporting ingredient. I really like to use lettuce as a base to serve food, especially Middle Eastern mezze-style dishes. I’ll lay any variety of lettuce on a platter and top it with tabbouleh, baba ganoush and homemade falafel. I've been making my own pita bread lately and its a great dinner to serve on a hot summer day.

I’ll do the same thing with a Vietnamese cold noodle salad, lining a bowl with lettuce leaves and filling it with rice noodles, pickled carrots and radish, some grilled pork, and topped with delicious nuoc cham sauce.

And let's not forget salads! I’m particularly looking forward to making a batch of homemade caesar dressing to serve with my red romaine lettuce. Finally, there's Korean barbecue which we have at home several times per month. It doesn’t get much better than savory grilled meats wrapped with rice and all the appropriate accompaniments in freshly picked lettuce from your garden.

My balcony lettuce garden might not be as plentiful as my Father-in-law’s garden was, but hopefully it will grow well enough for us to get a good supply of lettuce for much of the summer.