Growing Celtuce (Stem Lettuce): A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 10, 2026
Celtuce, also called stem lettuce, is a lettuce relative grown for a thick, crisp central stem instead of its leaves, a texture somewhere between celery and lettuce hearts once peeled.
Grown much like head lettuce
Transplant, sowing seed 3 to 4 weeks before transplanting outdoors, an eighth of an inch deep, shading flats on hot days to keep the soil surface below 75°F until germination. Direct-seeding also works, sown in spring 1 inch apart in rows 12 to 18 inches apart, thinned to 8 inches. Seeds germinate even at a cold 40°F soil temperature but poorly above 75°F, so this stays a cool-season crop despite its exotic reputation. Celtuce tolerates light frost.
Harvest and prepare the stem
Cut the plant when the enlarged stem reaches 8 to 10 inches long. Strip off the leaves except for the small top tuft, then peel or trim the outer skin to expose the edible central core. The stem can be eaten raw in salads, or stir-fried and broiled.
Celtuce has no recorded companions or antagonists in our data. See the full companion guide for celtuce for how it’s tracked. At 2 plants per square foot, it fits well alongside other cool-season lettuces in the Garden Designer, timed for spring or fall rather than the heat of summer.
Source: Celtuce: Key Growing Information, Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Companion planting guide for Celtuce (Stem Lettuce) · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 2-11. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Method: Either: Start indoors for an earlier harvest, or direct-sow outside for less fuss. Celtuce (Stem Lettuce) tolerates either.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Celtuce (Stem Lettuce) plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 2 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 1-1.5 ft.
Varieties worth considering
- Straight-species celtuce (Lactuca sativa var. asparagina): Johnny's Selected Seeds sells this variety plain, without competing named cultivars; the crop itself is the novelty, not a particular breeding line. (source)
Cited from the source shown next to each variety. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement.
Where to buy celtuce seeds
As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Some links on this page also go to other retailers we may earn a commission from as an affiliate, at no extra cost to you. We only recommend products with a genuine consensus of positive, independent reviews. See the sources cited on each item.
See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing celtuce (stem lettuce)" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Celtuce (Stem Lettuce): A lettuce relative grown not for its leaves but for a thick, crisp central stem, peeled and eaten like a cross between celery and lettuce hearts.
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