PlantFiles: Lettuce
Lactuca sativa 'Black-Seeded Simpson'

I didn't know anything about the growing characteristics of this lettuce type before putting it in my small raised bed garden. Started harvesting leaves from the bottom of the plant and just kept shaking my head because I didn't believe what I was seeing...the plant was getting taller and taller instead of bushy. After a little bit of Internet research, I came to understand that what I was experiencing was just the normal behavior - an upward growing plant that can reach 4 feet tall and 2 feet wide! I'll need to make more room for them next year and start pickin' from the top of the plant instead of the bottom.

Great taste, plentiful amount of leaves, and getting taller!

Delicious lettuce. Very little bitterness, and lasted well into summer. I'll grow it again next year, for sure.

As a first-time lettuce grower, I knew nothing about cultivars when I scanned the cheap seed racks and decided to try this one. Lucky me! The lettuce is soft and mild flavored, making it suitable for sandwiches and salads alike, and though I harvest enough for a salad every evening or so for my small family, I can hardly tell that I've touched the plants the day after.

Black-Seeded Simpson Lettuce also provides a pleasing shade of light green in contrast to the rows of darker greens from the Solanaceae family (tomatoes, peppers, potatoes) and the Brassica blues (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower) in my 20x32' veggie garden. :)

I have grown this variety for years, great tasting, easy to grow, and does stand up to the heat. The more you pick it, the more it grows.

This old stand-by is quite bolt-resistant, and given really nitrogen-rich soil, it can get huge. I've grown them over 2 feet in diameter!

Sow seeds in early spring and again after the very hot days of summer are over. In cooler climates, you can make 2 to 3 spring plantings, timed 2 weeks apart. Little is gained by starting seeds indoors.

Crisp textured loose heads have broad, light green frilled and crumpled leaves with a delicate flavor. Ready 45 days after sowing. Sow in a sunny location in early to mid spring or late summer. In Deep South and Pacific Coast areas sow from fall to early spring. In rows 1.5in apart. cover with 0.5in soil. Seedlings emerge in 7-14 days. Thin to stand 3-4in apart when 1-2in high. Wait 2-3 weeks and thin out alternate plants for final spacing of 6-8ins. Make successive plantings to extend period of harvest.

Easy to grow. I agree about the heat resistance ~ this one and buttercrunch always seem the last to bolt in my zone 8 garden.

An old open Pollinated variety grown for years in this area. Withstands some heat and stays tasty.

This lettuce has been one of my favorites. I find that it can take a little more heat than some other types before becoming bitter tasting.

The standard to beat in leaf-lettuce. Very old open-pollinated variety, never fails to provide a good crop even in mediocre growing seasons. Superb for cut-and-come-again harvesting.