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Lamb's lettuce for winter

Updated: 21 October 2026

Summer lettuce has finished and you want something green in December that is not a shop bag. Lamb's lettuce for winter is a late-summer sowing of corn salad, Valerianella locusta, so the plants are already rosettes before the short days. It is not a November panic sowing, and it is not Arctic King. The [lamb's lettuce seeds comparison](/hub/seeds-and-plants/lamb-s-lettuce-seeds) is the packet table. This page is one season. The Products Compared editorial team used the Royal Horticultural Society species note and Gardeners' World winter-salad guidance, on 19 October 2026. A qualifying purchase can earn a commission at no extra cost to you. No listing here was trialled through a British winter.

Summer lettuce has finished and you want something green in December that is not a shop bag.

Our top picks

Unwins Unwins Lambs Trophy

Best overall

Unwins Unwins Lambs Trophy
7.9/10about £2.08
View offer
DAMAVAND PRO Damavandpro Verte de Cambrai winter listing

Alternative

DAMAVAND PRO Damavandpro Verte de Cambrai winter listing
4.4/10about £2.99
View offer
Kings Seeds Kings Seeds corn salad Vit

Best value

Kings Seeds Kings Seeds corn salad Vit
3.8/10about £1.35
View offer
On this page
  1. 1.The sowing window
  2. 2.Cover and drainage
  3. 3.What happens in midwinter
  4. 4.Packets that mention winter

The sowing window

The RHS says corn salad is normally sown in late summer or autumn. For leaves through the cold months, plants need to be established while they can still grow. On UK seed-merchant pages that is often August into September, sometimes on into October. Kings Seeds, on its Verte de Cambrai catalogue page, says sow August to October and harvest November to January, with a cloche. That calendar is not printed on the Kings Seeds Vit listing on amazon.co.uk. Do not paste the catalogue dates onto a packet that never printed them. A November sowing is a weaker plan. Short days from November to February pause growth. You will not get a new rosette every week from seed that went in after the clocks changed. If you missed August, a small row under a cloche is a late starter for spring, not Christmas leaves. Depth, about 5–15 mm on a moist surface, stays on how to sow lamb's lettuce. A spring-to-summer row every two weeks is the long season, not this slot.

Cover and drainage

Hardy is not the same as happy in a puddle. The RHS rates the species H7 and says a cloche is for very harsh weather, not for every winter week. Gardeners' World puts corn salad on free-draining soil in a sheltered sunny spot, because plants can freeze in standing water. A correct August date in a wet hollow still fails. Do not quote an unsourced figure such as −15 °C. Cover when the weather turns hard. Fleece or a cloche helps when temperatures dip. Fleece laid on wet leaves will mat them, and a cloche that is never vented keeps the crown wet. A trough about 15–20 cm deep holds a short row. Do not stand it in a saucer of winter rain.
Unwins Unwins Lambs Trophy

Testsieger

Unwins Unwins Lambs Trophy
7.9/10about £2.08
View offer

What happens in midwinter

From November into February a small rosette can sit for weeks. That pause is the crop in short days, not proof the seed died. Gardeners' World notes that leaves may give winter pickings under cover and then resume in spring. Pick what is already there. Do not expect a new flush every week in January. A flat rosette after a frost is a reason to check drainage and wait for a thaw, not a reason to dig the row up. In spring the plants move again, then run to flower. Pull them when the flavour goes. These sources do not promise eight or twelve cuts. If it is already deep winter and you have no plants, sowing now will not rewind August.

Packets that mention winter

A winter word on a title is a listing signal, not a winter trial. Unwins Lambs Trophy says harvest from January to December, at £2.08 for about 300 seeds, and sow March to October. That line does not prove a weekly January picking. One Damavandpro title, at £2.99, says classic winter variety and does not give a sowing month. MES GRAINES bullets say cold resistant, or winter harvest, on £3.41 packets whose reviews are in French. Kings Seeds Vit, at £1.35, states no winter note in the raw file. Matching a pot or a Cambrai name is on best lamb's lettuce seeds. Winter Density and Arctic King are lettuces. If the packet says one of those names, lamb's lettuce vs winter lettuce sets out the wrong crop.

Common questions

When do I sow for winter leaves in the UK?
Sow in late summer so the plants are established before the short days. Merchant calendars often say August to September, and the Kings Seeds Cambrai catalogue page says August to October for a November-to-January harvest.
Do I need a cloche?
Not every week. The RHS treats a cloche as help in very harsh weather, and the species is rated H7. Gardeners' World still recommends cover for the best winter results, and fleece when temperatures dip.
Will it grow in January?
It can sit through January. It will not reliably make new leaves every week in the shortest days. Under a cloche you may pick leaves that grew earlier, and growth often resumes in spring.
What if the bed sits in water?
Move the crop. Gardeners' World warns that plants can freeze in standing water and asks for free-draining soil. A wet hollow undoes a correct sowing date. Use a raised row or a trough, and do not leave a pot in a full saucer.
Can I sow it in a pot by the back door?
Yes, if the pot drains. A trough about 15–20 cm deep suits a short row. A single 30 cm pot is a handful of leaves. Cover it in a hard spell and keep winter rain from pooling at the base.
When do plants run to seed in spring?
As the days lengthen they flush and then flower. Gardeners' World describes winter pickings under cover and a return to growth in spring. Once the spike starts, the leaf is past its best and you pull the row.

Related pages

Lamb's lettuce buying guide

Lamb's lettuce seeds

Best lamb's lettuce seeds for pot, price or Cambrai

How to sow lamb's lettuce: depth, space and moisture

Lamb's lettuce vs winter lettuce: corn salad or a cos

Sources

Sources taken from the research digest. Listings were checked on 19 October 2026.

  1. RHS — Valerianella locusta (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  2. Gardeners' World — how to grow lamb's lettuce (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  3. Gardeners' World — winter salad (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  4. Seed Marketing Regulations 2011 (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  5. Defra — plant varieties and seeds FAQ (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  6. Suttons — corn salad seeds (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  7. The English Garden — indoor salad leaves (retrieved 19.10.2026)
  8. Unwins — lamb's lettuce Trophy (retrieved 19.10.2026)