This Week It's Cos Lettuce

Salad lover Graham reveals the lettuces to grow for lovely leaves and best disease resistance

- Graham Rice

IF you grow veg, it’s likely that you grow lettuce. But many gardeners are unaware of the vast number of different varieties that are available. We know there’s crisp, cos, butterhead, looseleaf… but that’s about it. Yet one seed company alone lists more than 50 different varieties and, within each of the four main types there’s a huge range – some of which are quite difficult to tell apart just by looking at them.

So what is the difference? And how, with more than 50 lettuce varieties boasting AGMs, do we choose?