Last edited by shiny on 8 Nov 2026. View history

Celtuce

Lactuca sativa var. asparagina Lactuca sativa var. augustana Lactuca sativa var. angustata

Also known as stem lettuce (en) celery lettuce (en) asparagus lettuce (en) Chinese lettuce (en)

A variety of lettuce

How to sow celtuce: Direct seed. If planting indoors, harden off before transplanting seedlings outside.

Sun requirement for celtuce: Plant in Partial Sun

Celtuce, or stem lettuce, is a lettuce cultivar bred in China for its long, thick, flavorful stalk. The stem is topped with broad, oval-shaped green leaves. The leaves have a bitter taste and can be added to soups, salads, or stews. The stem's rough skin should be peeled. It's crisp, delicate, white interior tastes like a cross between celery and lettuce. It can be eaten raw or cooked. Grilling and roasting reveal a mild nutty flavor. Like most lettuce, Celtuce is a cool weather crop, but it bolts less quickly. Harvest stems when they are 2-7cm in diameter and 20-45cm tall. Larger stems will be woodier and require longer cooking time.

2: plantings
0: harvests
0: seed packets

Growstuff is a free, community-run site for people who grow food. Keep track of what you plant and harvest, find seeds to swap, and see what is growing near you. Join to record your own celtuce.

Celtuce facts

Lifespan

Annual living and reproducing in a single year or less

Height

25cm

Row Spacing

30cm

What are growing degree days?

A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.

Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.

For celtuce, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 5°C and a shortest growing cycle of 35 days at its best temperature, about 403 growing degree days to a first harvest.

Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your celtuce will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.

Growing celtuce

deterring pests

place tilted jars of yeast+warm water (or beer) as slug traps at planting out every month

Growing lettuce

Sow seeds in trays 3 weeks before planting out
Dig compost into the bed 1 week before planting out
Water regularly at planting out every week
Weed around the seedlings 2 weeks after planting out
Sow another batch for a continuous harvest 4 weeks after planting out every month
Start picking the outer leaves at first harvest
Pull out plants that have bolted 6 weeks after first harvest