When to plant Lettuce in Ghana
Lettuce is a fast, leafy salad crop grown for its crisp, tender leaves — and because people eat it raw, you must grow it clean.
| Measure | Rain-fed | With irrigation |
|---|---|---|
| Fit | Moderate | |
| When to plant | 23 Jun 2027 – 29 Jul 2027 opens in 38 weeks | 30 Jun 2027 – 20 Jul 2027 |
| Expected harvest | about 9.1 t/ha | about 12.7 t/ha |
| Harvest | From 7 Aug 2027 to 12 Oct 2027, depending on the planting date | |
| Ready to harvest | 45–75 days after planting | |
| Work it takes | 40–80 days per hectare, by hand | |
Rain-fed. These dates are worked out from each place's own rainfall, for a field watered by the season — with irrigation a window can open earlier, close later, or come round more than once a year. Check your own field under What grows, or get the Divisi app for a calendar dated to your farm.
If you only get one chance to plant, aim for around 17 Jul 2027. That is the point in the window where the rains are most reliably established.
This season's rainfall outlook for Ghana leans dry, so these dates sit later than the long-run average. Planting on the date you are used to risks germinating into a false start and having to replant.
Planting after 29 Jul 2027 leaves the crop short of season: it runs into the dry months before it has finished filling.
What decides this in Ghana
| Rain and temperature | 45% |
|---|---|
| The soil | 76% |
| The lie of the land | 88% |
For lettuce in Ghana, rain and temperature is the tightest of the three at 45%. This one is fixed. It is why the planting window above is where it is — hitting those dates is the whole of your control here.
The 2027 season in Ghana
| When the rains are expected | February 2027 to December 2027 |
|---|---|
| Rain in a typical year | About 1,313 mm in a typical farming district |
| Across its districts | From about 742 mm in the driest of 260 districts to about 1,772 mm in the wettest |
| This season's rain | Leaning dry — February, September and October look short of rain. Plant at the early end of the window, favour quicker and more drought-tolerant crops, and keep moisture in the soil: mulch, and weed early. |
| This season's heat | Hotter than usual — about +0.8 °C over the growing months. Heat makes the same rain do less, so a dry spell bites sooner: do not plant late, and shade or mulch what you can. |
| What that supports | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year, warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season |
| Ground this covers | 4 kinds of ground. The season below is one typical farming district's, not a figure for the whole of this area. |
| 51% | enough rain for one full main crop; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 231 growing days · about 1,020 mm · April to November |
|---|---|
| 24% | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 323 growing days · about 1,340 mm · February to December |
| 14% | enough rain for a long crop, or two in a year; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 277 growing days · about 1,160 mm · February to November |
| 7% | enough rain for one short crop, and only if timed to it; warm all year, so nothing but rain ends the season 174 growing days · about 890 mm · May to October |
last updated 30 September 2026 · from all 260 areas within it
Temperature holds back about 60% of yield here.
What lettuce needs to grow here
| Soil it likes | well-drained sandy loam or loam soil |
|---|---|
| Soil sourness (pH) | Happiest between pH 6.0 and 6.8 |
| Spacing | 38 cm between rows, 30 cm between plants |
| Feed it most with | nitrogen, potassium and calcium |
What it takes to grow lettuce in Ghana
| Nitrogen (N) | About 23 kg per hectare |
|---|---|
| Phosphate (P₂O₅) | About 9 kg per hectare |
| Potash (K₂O) | About 46 kg per hectare |
| In the shops | A basal compound at planting — Compound D, or an NPK blend — covers the phosphate and potash. A nitrogen top dressing — urea or AN — goes on once the crop is established. |
| Hand work | 40–80 days per hectare, by hand |
These are the nutrients a lettuce crop of that size carries off the field. What you actually apply depends on what your soil already holds — which is what a soil test, or the app's field records, tell you.
What to watch for
Grow Lettuce with a plan, not a guess
Everything above describes Ghana as a whole — your own soil, slope and rainfall will shift the dates. The Divisi app works them out for your field, and dates each job that follows.
Or check your field firstLettuce in nearby districts
This calendar moves
Planting windows shift with the forecast. Leave your email and we'll send what changed, and a note when planting time nears — a couple of emails a month at most.
Frequently asked questions
Will lettuce grow well in Ghana?
Ghana rates as moderate for lettuce.
When should I plant lettuce in Ghana?
Typically 23 Jun 2027 to 29 Jul 2027, forecast-adjusted.
Is this exact for my own field?
No — these are readings taken across Ghana, not on your field. Soil, slope and rainfall change from one farm to the next. Check your own location to see your own numbers.