Why one big sowing always leads to a glut

Every spring, plenty of gardeners sow a generous row of lettuce, a pinch of rocket and a scattering of radish, then spend July trying to give away bags of the stuff. A fortnight later, the plants have bolted, the leaves are tough and bitter, and there is nothing tender left to pick. It is the classic feast-or-famine problem, and it happens because salads are fast-growing crops with a short window of perfection.

Succession sowing is the simple fix. Instead of one large sowing, you sow a small batch every fortnight from early spring through to late summer. Each batch gives you just enough for a week or two of picking, and because the plants are young and growing quickly, the leaves stay sweet and the radishes stay crisp. It also spreads the risk: if slugs mow down one sowing, the next one is already on its way.

The core crops for a UK succession

Three crops do the heavy lifting in a British salad patch: lettuce, radish and rocket. All three are quick, easy and happy in containers or raised beds. Here is how they behave in a typical UK garden.

• Lettuce: Loose-leaf types such as 'Salad Bowl' or 'Oakleaf' are ready to cut in 4–6 weeks. Hearting types like 'Little Gem' take 8–10 weeks. Sow under cover from late March, outdoors from mid-April. In hot spells, choose bolt-resistant varieties.
• Radish: Ready in as little as 3–4 weeks. 'French Breakfast' and 'Cherry Belle' are reliable. They hate drying out and will turn woody and hot if stressed. Sow little and often, and pull them young.
• Rocket: Wild rocket is punchier and slower to bolt than salad rocket. Sow from March to September. Leaves are ready in 4–6 weeks, and cut-and-come-again picking keeps them coming for weeks.

You can add spinach, mizuna, mustard greens and spring onions to the rotation, but the principle stays the same: small batches, regular intervals.

How much to sow each fortnight

The trick is to think in terms of what you will actually eat in two weeks, not what you can squeeze into a seed tray. For a household of two, a sensible fortnightly batch is:

• A 30cm row of radish, thinned to 3cm apart.
• Six to eight lettuce plants, spaced 25cm apart for hearting types or 15cm for loose-leaf.
• A 30cm row of rocket, thinned to 10cm apart.

Lettuce is easiest in modules or small pots, then planted out when the roots fill the module. Radish and rocket resent transplanting, so sow them directly where they will grow. Water the drill before sowing, cover lightly with soil, and keep the surface moist until germination. In cold snaps, fleece or a cloche will speed things up and protect young leaves.

Finding space without a dedicated salad bed

You do not need a whole bed for salads. Tuck a row of radish between slower brassicas, or sow rocket in the gaps left by harvested garlic or early potatoes. Containers are perfect: a 30cm pot holds a handful of lettuce or a short row of radish. Just make sure there is at least 15cm of depth for lettuce and rocket, and 20cm for radish.

In midsummer, shade matters more than space. A spot that gets morning sun and afternoon shade will keep leaves tender and delay bolting. If your plot is exposed, drape a piece of shade netting over a simple frame during heatwaves. Raised beds dry out faster than open ground, so mix in plenty of compost to hold moisture.

Keeping supplies tender and coming

Consistency is everything with salad crops. Aim for about 2.5cm of water per week, more in hot weather, and water in the morning so leaves dry before evening. A mulch of grass clippings or compost will lock in moisture and keep the soil cool.

Harvest little and often. For rocket and loose-leaf lettuce, cut the outer leaves with scissors, leaving the crown to regrow. For hearting lettuce, cut the whole head at soil level, or pick outer leaves if you prefer. Radishes should be pulled as soon as they reach usable size; leave them too long and they turn pithy.

If a plant bolts, pull it straight away and sow a fresh batch in its place. Bolting is a signal, not a failure: it usually means the plant is stressed by heat or drought. Sow bolt-resistant varieties in July and August, and keep the soil evenly moist.

A simple fortnightly rhythm for spring and summer

Start your first sowing under cover in mid-March: a few lettuce modules and a small pot of rocket. From mid-April, sow outdoors every fortnight. By June, you will be picking your first leaves while the next batch is still small. Carry on through July and August with heat-tolerant types, and make a final sowing of winter-hardy lettuce and rocket in early September for autumn picking.

Mark the date of each sowing on a label or in a notebook. Fourteen days later, sow the next batch before you harvest the first. That simple habit, repeated through the season, is the difference between a short-lived glut and a steady, tender supply of salad from spring right through to the first frosts.