Lettuce Little Gem Seeds

Lactuca sativa

Little Gem is a much-loved compact lettuce producing small, neat heads approximately 12 cm across. Combining the tender sweetness of a Butterhead with the satisfying crunch of a Cos, it forms tightly packed green leaves around a crisp, succulent heart.

The leaves have a wonderfully sweet flavour and excellent texture, making Little Gem particularly good for salads, sandwiches and wraps. The small heads are ideal for serving whole or halved, and are also delicious lightly grilled or charred, where the crisp heart holds its shape beautifully.

Little Gem has been grown for generations and remains popular with both home gardeners and cooks because of its compact size, superb flavour and reliability. Its small footprint makes it particularly useful for raised beds, containers and gardens where space is limited.

It is relatively heat tolerant compared with many lettuces and matures quickly, making it useful for successive sowings across the growing season.

Lettuce is one of the world’s oldest cultivated salad vegetables, grown for thousands of years and spreading through the ancient Mediterranean world. Today its enormous diversity includes looseleaf, cos, butterhead and crisphead forms adapted to a wide range of climates and seasons.

Little Gem prefers fertile, well-drained soil with a near-neutral pH and consistent moisture. Some afternoon shade can help maintain tender growth during warmer weather.

Seed count: approximately 600–1,000 seeds/g
Approximately 200 seeds per packet

When to Plant (Australia)

Tropics: Autumn to winter
Subtropics: Autumn to spring
Mild climates: Autumn to spring
Cold climates: Spring to autumn

Planting / Sowing

Sow shallowly, approximately 3–5 mm deep, directly into prepared soil or raise in trays for transplanting. Lettuce seed needs only a light covering and germinates best in cool to mild conditions.

Space plants approximately 15–20 cm apart to allow the compact heads to develop. Grow in full sun during cooler weather or provide some afternoon shade as temperatures increase.

Keep soil consistently moist to encourage crisp, tender growth and reduce stress that can cause bitterness or premature bolting. Harvest when the compact heads are well formed and approximately 12 cm across, or pick individual outer leaves earlier as required.

Maturity: approximately 45–70 days.

Due to quarantine restrictions, TAS has an 800g limit per each seed variety and WA has a 10,000 seeds limit per variety.