Technical Note
Iceberg Lettuce March 2020
Horticultural Dept
Iceberg lettuce is one of the standard salad crops which is grown by a small
number of specialised growers. Iceberg lettuce until the 1930's was known as
crisphead lettuce. It is a crop only for the committed producer producing a
quality product who has good outlets in the wholesale or retail markets.
Iceberg is in demand all year round. It can be produced outdoors in this
country from June-October. In the milder areas of the country it may be
possible to crop from the fourth week of May onwards if the first plantings are
covered with fleece or bird netting.
In order to ensure that the necessary quality and continuity is achieved
investment will be required in:
Propagation/planting - Glass or polythene tunnel/blocking
machine/specialised block transplanter.
Packing/cooling - Harvesting rig/vacuum cooler/cold
Facilities storage.
Irrigation Equipment - Essential for iceberg production.
The crop is normally propagated under glass using split pills into peat blocks and
later transplanted out in the field. Alternatively plants can be purchased from a
propagator.
SOIL Lettuce grows best in fertile well-structured soils. Silt or
sandy loams are ideal. Can also be grown on heavier soils
if well structured.
FARMYARD Manure or other organic matter can be used on ready to
MANURE eat crops provided it is stacked for 3-6 months and
applied 7 days prior to planting.
LIME Lettuce is sensitive to soil acidity. Crop growth is
increasingly restricted on mineral soils below a pH of 6.1.
Aim for a pH of around 6.5.
FERTILISER Iceberg lettuce has a higher requirement for nitrogen
than speciality lettuces but in general lettuce is not
particularly responsive to large quantities of nitrogen.
70-100 kg/ha should be adequate for most situations but
an additional 50 kg/ha is allowable under the Nitrates
Directive. This crop has a high requirement for potash
and phosphorus. Apply P and K according to soil analysis
results. The preferred form of potash is the sulphate
form. There are no special requirements for boron so
compound like 7-6-17 would be suitable.
Apply the following NPK kg/ha according to soil analysis:
Soil Index N P K
1 100 80 250
2 90 60 200
3 80 40 150
4 70 20 100
Topdress 50
VARIETIES Gondar Early
Mossation Maincrop
Templin Maincrop
Eduardo Maincrop
Elmundo Maincrop
Gonzalo Maincrop
Gondar Late
Varieties normally have inbuilt resistance to downy
mildew and some may have additional resistance to
Nasanovia leaf aphid.
PROPAGATION Propagate under glass or plastic using 3.8 – 4.3 cm blocks
and split pills. Ideal temperature for germination is
approximately 15-21°C. Take note that at temperatures
greater than 27°C, high temperature dormancy can
occur. Temperature can be controlled by using
germination chambers, or by sowing in the evening and
covering with Styrofoam sheets. Maximum stay in the
germination room is 2-3 days: when the seed has chitted
take out at evening time and keep in high humidity for the
first day out in the house. Keep an eye out for possible
bird and mouse damage. Propagation time is usually 2-3
weeks but earliest sowings can take up to 2 months.
Harden off the plants by standing outdoors in a sheltered
area for a week prior to planting.
CONTINUITY
Sowing Date Planting Date Harvest Date
PROGRAMME
5 January 6 March (F) 21 May
18 January 16 March (F) 27 May
17 February 1 April 9 June
15 March 18 April 24 June
30 March 28 April 3 July
10 April 8 May 10 July
25 April 18 May 15 July
6 May 26 May 21 July
18 May 7 June 28 July
30 May 17 June 9 August
6 June 24 June 14 August
11 June 28 June 19 August
16 June 3 July 24 August
23 June 12 July 30 August
29 June 16 July 7 September
4 July 21 July 13 September
6 July 24 July 16 September
9 July 26 July 20 September
13 July 30 July 24 September
19 July 6 August 4 October
23 July 9 August 14 October
The above table is to be used as a guide only as maturity
date will depend on the seasonality of the weather. May
production is only for milder areas. To achieve continuity
the maximum interval between sowings from January to
May should be one week and twice a week or more
frequently from June to July. F = fleece covered crop.
EARLY CROPS Harvest date can be advanced by covering the first few
plantings with fleece. Seed can be sown from January to
mid-February for planting in March to crop from the
fourth week May to mid-June.
TRANSPLANTING Transplant at the 2-3 true leaf stage using a specialised
block planter. Ensure that the block is level with the soil.
Time from planting to harvest will vary from 50-75 days
depending on time of year.
SPACING 35 x 30 cm on beds
72,000 plants/ha
WEED CONTROL Groundsel is the major weed problem in growing outdoor
lettuce – they are both in the same family, Asteraceae.
It builds up where lettuce is grown in the same fields
year after year. And the issue is compounded by the fact
that the available herbicides are poor in controlling this
weed. So use a proper rotation to stop groundsel building
up. Use of stale seedbeds will also help. Suggest using
1.25 L/ha Stomp Aqua followed by 3.5 L/ha Kerb Flo post
planting. This should be supplemented by follow-up
mechanical weed control.
Stomp Aqua 2.9 L/ha
Residual herbicide; groundsel resistant; usually tank
mixed with Wing P. Apply pre-planting.
Wing P 1.25 L/ha
Similar to Stomp Aqua but more effective on annual
meadow grass and groundsel; however only very low rate
approved for lettuce as an off-label which limits its
usefulness in groundsel control. Apply pre-planting.
Kerb Flo 2.75-3.5 L/ha
Apply pre or post planting but normally applied 1-2 weeks
post planting. Has little contact effect except for annual
meadow grass and chickweed. Groundsel resistant.
Bonalan 8.0 L/ha
Expensive herbicide that is incorporated in prior to
planting. Not effective on groundsel.
Dual Gold 0.7 L/ha
May damage Little Gem. Not effective on groundsel.
IRRIGATION Essential. In dry seasons, without irrigation it is
impossible to meet production targets and the
percentage cut is reduced. Irrigation also assists in
making the best use of herbicides.
With a leafy crop such as lettuce, irrigation to restore a
soil moisture deficit at any crop growth stage will give a
yield response. Apply 12-15 mm at any one application.
Use a couple of irrigations at planting to settle a crop in
if weather is dry.
PESTS
Slugs May be troublesome especially around headlands. The use
of pellets will prevent this pest from damaging newly
planted crops.
Aphids Commonest pest of lettuce. A number of aphids attack
lettuce including Lettuce Aphid (Nasonovia ribisnigri).
Some varieties now have resistance to this species –
Movento is the most effective spray. Apply control as
soon as seen. Cruiser seed dressing is available which
gives early control of aphids.
Product Rate/ha Harvest Interval
Movento 0.5 L/ha 1 week
Closer 200 ml/ha 1 week
Gazelle 250 g/ha 3 days
Lettuce root aphid Uncommon pest of lettuce. It feeds on the roots of
lettuce causing yellowing of the foliage and stunting. The
aphid overwinters on Lombardy poplar and in June and
July fly to and infest lettuce crops. It has been known to
over-winter in the soil.
Cultural control: rotavate the infected ground. This will
greatly reduce aphid population in the soil. Good rotation.
Chemical control: Gazelle
Caterpillar Sporadic pest of lettuce. Commonest species to attack
lettuce is Silver Y moth, a migrant species, which can be a
major pest in some years. Pheromone traps can be used to
detect arrival of moths.
Product Rate/ha Harvest Interval
Lepinox Plus 1 kg Zero
Tracer 200 ml 3 days
Decis 250 ml 1 week
Pigeons Take precautions especially in the April to June period :
bangers, shooting, kites or nets.
DISEASES
Downy The most troublesome disease of lettuce. Cool moist
mildew conditions favour it. Most varieties are resistant to this
disease but needs backup from fungicides. Phosphite
products (e.g. Farm-Fos) can help to counter mildew.
Product Rate/ha Harvest Interval
Acrobat 2 kg/ha 3 weeks
Revus 0.6 L/ha 1 week
Dithane DF 2.1 kg/ha 4 weeks
Infinito 1.6 L/ha 2 weeks
Botrytis May be troublesome on autumn maturing crops.
Product Rate/ha Harvest Interval
Scala 1.33 L/ha 2 weeks
Signum 1.5 kg 2 weeks
Switch 0.7 kg 1 week
Sclerotinia If lettuce is intensively cropped sclerotinia can build up.
Signum is effective against it. Otherwise it can be
managed by using bio-fungicides such as Contans or
Prestop.
DISORDERS
Tipburn Causes brown tipping of the leaves. Can also cause some
of the inner leaves to go brown. Occurs when plants are
losing more moisture through their leaves than they are
taking up through their roots. Irrigation during dry
spells will help prevent this problem. Foliar application of
calcium should also be considered – Inca, CalMax etc.
HARVESTING Iceberg lettuce will mature in 7-11 weeks from planting.
Getting iceberg ready for market is a labour intensive
process as it involves cutting, trimming, wrapping and
boxing – all carried out on a field harvesting rig.
On a hot summers day the head temperature will be
considerably higher than the air temperature. The
packed crop needs to cooled in a vacuum cooler down to
3°C and then kept at that temperature in a holding fridge
prior to transport. If a vacuum cooler isn’t available it’s
essential to cut early in the day when the heads are still
relatively cool. This is necessary to ensure satisfactory
shelf life.
The minimum head size is 350g.
YIELD Assuming a 70% cut, that works out at 50,400 heads per
ha. Early and late cuts may be less – down to 60%. A good
cut-out would be 80%. The crop is packed in cardboard
boxes – 10/12 heads per box depending on size.
