Red Oak Leaf Lettuce is a specialty lettuce, known by its striking rich red colour and its beautiful notched leaves, which are shaped like an oak leaf. An heirloom, oak leaf lettuce, it has been a popular variety from at least the 1800's.

Red Oak Leaf forms a dense bunch of leaves, which have a tender sweet flavour and seldom become bitter. It is slow to bolt and crops long and hard – a perfect choice for cultivation from spring through to autumn.
The crisp tender leaf is excellent for salads and soups; it can be cooked or stuffed, separated into leaves or served as hearts. And of course, it looks great on a plate or peeking out of a panini!

For the best lettuce...
Never sow a whole row at once, a small row about 60cm (2ft) long is adequate for most households. For a continuous crop, sow short rows every two weeks.

Lettuce germinate at surprisingly low temperatures; many will fail to germinate once the soil temperature rises above 25°C (77°F) If you are sowing lettuce through the hotter months, and are sowing directly into the soil (something I never do nowadays, as slugs attack the very young seedlings in my garden), water the drill before sowing to cool the soil down and make sure you sow into a shaded part of the garden.

Prepare the site:
Lettuce can grow from seed to salad in about 1 month in many regions, and only a little longer in others. The key to tender and tasty lettuce is rapid growth, however lettuce has a relatively shallow and compact root system that doesn't absorb nutrients and moisture from the soil very efficiently, which can slow the growth. So to encourage fast growth, add plenty of finished compost before planting and again as a side-dressing a week or so after seedlings appear or transplants are planted. Give supplemental feedings of compost tea every few weeks until harvest.

Sowing:
Sow indoors: Anytime of year for Babyleaf and 4 weeks before transplanting outside.
Sow outdoors: When soil can be worked in the spring
Spacing in beds : Leaf lettuce for continuous harvest: 1.3cm (½in) in bands.

Sow at a seed depth of 6-13mm (¼-½in) Seed will germinate in 7 to 14 days.
The perfect temperature for germination is 4 to 16°C (40-60°F) germination rates decline above 20°C (68°F)
Sow seeds in short rows about 30cm (12”) apart. To do this, make a shallow trench with a cane about 1.5cm (1/2”) deep. Tip a small amount of seed into your hand, take a pinch and spread thinly along the trench. Cover with soil, label and water. If birds are a problem in your garden, spread netting to prevent them eating the seed.
When the seedlings are about 2cm (1”) tall, thin them out to give them space to grow, 15-20cm (6-8”)

Aftercare:
Keep soil just moist. This is particularly important when the lettuces are one or two weeks away from harvesting, as dry soil now will cause the plants to put their energy into producing flowers.

Harvesting:
Harvest as soon as they are big enough for the salad bowl. The harvest is over when a central stem starts to form. This is the signal that the plant is getting ready to bolt, then the leaves will be bitter.

Rotation considerations:
Avoid following radicchio, endive, escarole or artichoke.

Good Companions:
Everything, but especially carrot, garlic, onion, and radish.

Bad Companions:
None