Why a Pot of Salad Leaves Beats a Row in the Ground

Cut-and-come-again salad is quietly the most rewarding thing you can grow in a small space. You are not waiting weeks for a hearted lettuce to firm up; you are snipping a handful of young leaves six or seven weeks after sowing, and then doing it again a fortnight later. Containers suit this style of growing perfectly, because raising the compost above ground level warms it earlier in spring, drains it freely through the wettest British winters, and lets you move the whole crop out of the wind or into the sun as the seasons shift.

A doorstep, a balcony rail, a windowsill or a few pots by the back door will all do. What matters is that the pot is deep enough for roots to explore and that you keep sowing little and often, rather than one big sowing that bolts in July and leaves you with nothing by September.

Choosing Containers, Compost and Position

Aim for pots at least 20cm deep and 30cm across, with proper drainage holes. Salad roots are shallow, but a deeper pot holds moisture far better on a hot afternoon. Stand them on feet or bricks so water can run away freely — this also lifts them off cold paving in winter.

• Compost: a peat-free multipurpose mix, lightened with a couple of handfuls of horticultural grit or leaf mould per pot. Never use garden soil, which compacts and brings in weeds and slugs.
• Drainage: a layer of broken crocks or gravel in the base, then fill to within 2cm of the rim.
• Position: four to five hours of sun is ideal. An east or west-facing spot is often better than due south, where midsummer heat encourages bolting and flea beetle. Leaves will tolerate light shade, especially in July and August.
• Shelter: balconies and doorsteps can funnel wind, which dries compost and snaps tender stems. A low screen of fleece or a row of taller pots helps enormously.

What to Sow for Flavour and Colour

Loose-leaf varieties are the ones to choose — anything described as cut-and-come-again, rather than hearting. A good mix gives you peppery, mild and bitter notes in one bowl.

• Summer: lettuce 'Salad Bowl' and 'Lollo Rossa', rocket, mizuna, mustard 'Red Giant', pak choi, perpetual spinach, chard 'Bright Lights', chervil, coriander and dill.
• Winter: lamb's lettuce, land cress, winter purslane, winter-hardy lettuces such as 'Winter Density' or 'Arctic King', and kale 'Red Russian' for picking young.

Buy a ready-made mixed packet or blend your own in a jar. Coriander and dill bolt quickly in heat, so keep them for spring and autumn sowings.

Sowing Little and Often

The single habit that separates a steady supply from a glut is succession sowing. From March to September, sow a small pot or a short row every two to three weeks. In a 30cm pot, a pinch of seed the size of a pea is plenty.

Scatter thinly over the surface and cover with 1cm of compost, or sow in shallow drills. Water gently with a fine rose, then cover with fleece until germination, which takes seven to fourteen days at 10–15°C. Thin the seedlings to roughly 3cm apart once they are big enough to handle — crowding is the most common reason for spindly, mildewed crops. Thinnings are edible, so rinse them and add them to the salad bowl.

Watering, Feeding and Cutting

Keep the compost moist but never sodden. In summer, pots may need checking twice a day; water in the morning so foliage dries before evening and grey mould has less of a foothold. From the second cut onwards, feed every ten to fourteen days with a dilute liquid seaweed or comfrey feed.

Harvest with scissors, cutting 2–3cm above the compost and taking the outer leaves first. Leave the growing point in the centre and it will push up new leaves within a fortnight. Most mixes give three to five good cuts before they tire. In summer, expect the first harvest four to six weeks from sowing; in winter, allow eight to ten.

Keeping the Crop Going Through Autumn and Winter

Cold slows growth rather than stopping it, so with a little protection you can be picking leaves in December and again in February. Move pots against a south-facing wall, which absorbs warmth during the day and releases it at night, and raise them off the ground to avoid waterlogging.

Horticultural fleece draped over hoops, or an old cold frame, adds two or three degrees and keeps the worst of the rain off. Cloches do the same job for smaller pots, and a wrap of bubble wrap around the outside of a pot insulates the rootball. In a sharp frost, bring small pots into an unheated porch or onto a cool windowsill.

Cut watering right back over winter — cold and wet rots more plants than frost ever does. Pick sparingly, taking only what you need for one meal, and remove any yellowing or mouldy leaves promptly to keep air moving. Watch for slugs and snails after rain, and for aphids on new growth under cover; a thorough squirt of water usually deals with the latter. Sow again in late August for winter leaves, and once more in February under cover for the earliest spring cuttings. Do that, and there is rarely a week of the year when there is nothing to snip.