Your spring containers can contain tasty choices

Lettuce is one of the easiest vegetables to grow in containers. Start some from seed indoors now to transplant in a few weeks or sow seeds directly in containers early in April.

Lettuce is a cool-season vegetable, growing best at temperatures between 45 and 75 degrees and weathering light frosts without injury.

Choose a container with drainage holes and fill with a good quality soilless potting mix. Mix in an organic, high-nitrogen fertilizer like blood meal according to the directions on the package. If the container is hosting a variety of other cool-season vegetables like radishes and kohlrabi, feed plants with an all-purpose fertilizer instead.

Whether started indoors or out, seeds should be planted at the depth recommended on the seed packet. In raised garden boxes, they can be planted in straight-as-an-arrow rows or in groups. In mixed containers, scatter seeds in their assigned space.

Keep the soil moist, but not soggy, until seedlings appear. When they develop true leaves (their second set of leaves), thin them so plants are 6 to 18 inches apart depending on the variety. Directions for thinning can also be found on the seed packet.

Thinning can be difficult for gardeners, but lettuce plants grown too closely together are more susceptible to disease, so don't spare the scissors to spoil the rest of the lettuce. Instead of pulling, cut excess seedlings at the soil line so the roots of neighboring plants are not disturbed.

Instead of planting an entire packet of seeds at once and then eating nothing but lettuce for breakfast, lunch and dinner in a month or so, plant a third of the seeds now, a third in two weeks, and remaining third two weeks after that.

If you are not a seed starter, your local independent garden center offers many varieties of lettuce already growing in small pots. Transplants should be planted at the same depth they were growing in their nursery pots. In containers, they can be planted a bit closer together than they would be planted in the ground. Plant them in cool-season vegetable container gardens or tuck them in between pansies and alyssum in decorative and edible spring arrangements.

Water lettuce consistently as it grows. If rainfall does not provide at least an inch of water each to satisfy lettuce's shallow roots, supplemental watering is necessary. Continue to feed with an organic fertilizer to replenish energy lost by continual harvesting and encourage regrowth.

Begin harvesting lettuce as soon as the leaves are big enough to use. They younger the leaves, the sweeter the taste. Harvest in the morning when leaves have the sweetest flavor and are the crispiest.

Cut the outside leaves of leaf and butterhead lettuces and the leaves in the center of the plant will continue to grow. Wait until Bibb or romaine lettuces are near their mature size before cutting the entire plant.

There are more varieties significantly more flavorful than Iceberg lettuce. Butterhead types have small, round, loosely-formed heads. Leaf lettuces don't form heads and are available in both green and red varieties. Leaf lettuces grow quickly and are best if leaves will be harvested a few at time. Romaine lettuces have open, upright heads of richly-colored leaves.

• Diana Stoll is a horticulturist, garden writer and speaker. She blogs at gardenwithdiana.com.