Growing instructions for lettuce and salad leaves

Try Lettuce Salad Bowl, Lettuce Little Gem, Rocket Skyrocket, Continental Salad, Niche Salad, Radish Red Head and Spring Onion White Lisbon.

To grow in the ground, sow seed thinly into drills (shallow trenches) about 1 cm (1/2in) deep, and with about 15cm (6in) between rows. When the seedlings start to emerge, remove the weaker ones (thinning) until you have about 1 plant every 2cm (1in) or so for radish, 15cm (6in) for rocket and 30cm (12in) for lettuce. Spring onion and salad leaves should not need thinning. In containers, sow seed on the surface of the compost and cover with vermiculite or a little more compost. Keep well-watered until the plants are established, and keep the soil moist during spells of dry weather. Plants in containers will need regular watering.

By sowing more seed every 2 weeks you can ensure a continuous supply from early summer through to late autumn. With lettuce, rocket and salad leaves you can just pick a few leaves off each plant and leave the rest to continue growing.

For radish, harvest what you need when the roots are swollen and firm.

For spring onion, harvest when they are about as thick as a pencil.