Beet

Beta vulgaris

Amaranthaceae

Lettuce

Lactuca sativa

Asteraceae

Can you plant beets and lettuce together?

Yes. Beets and lettuce grow well together. A shared bed gave about 58% more harvest than separate beds in one field trial. That rests on a single study, so treat it as a lead, not a rule.

Why beets and lettuce work together

More harvest from the same bed. In one field trial, a bed with both crops gave about 58% more harvest than the same space split into a beet bed and a lettuce bed.
Green manure and spatial arrangement in the sustainability improvement of lettuce-beet intercrops (Silva · 2018)
Garden charts recommend it. 3 garden chart entries recommend growing them together. 1 of them cite no source. Charts pass on gardening tradition; they are not tests.
Companion Plants (Alabama Cooperative Extension System)

What to plant with beets and lettuce

Good neighbours of both, best tested first.

CilantroWith beets: 119% more harvestWith lettuce: Recommended by garden charts, not tested
OnionWith beets: 64% more harvestWith lettuce: Recommended by garden charts, not tested
CucumberWith beets: Recommended by garden charts, not testedWith lettuce: 35% more harvest
KohlrabiRecommended by garden charts for both, not tested yet
GarlicRecommended by garden charts for both, not tested yet

How each one was tested, with the evidence

What to keep away from beets and lettuce

CeleryWith lettuce: Garden charts advise against it, not tested
ParsleyWith lettuce: Garden charts advise against it, not tested

The evidence in detail

For readers who want to dig in: every chart entry, study and yield trial behind the answer above, with the numbers.

Tradition, research and yield trials

Tradition

Good

avoidgood

3 chart entries: 3 recommend, 0 advise against.

2 cited, 1 uncited.

Research

No papers found on this pair.

Yield trial

Good

No per-crop split reported in these trials.

1 field trial. Published LERs lean high.

Good neighbours

What happens above and below ground

Each animation illustrates a mechanism a study reported for this pair. Pick a card to focus on it.

Everything at once.

What is going on (1)

Pick a card to spotlight its animation in the scene.

Beet LettuceMedian land equivalent ratio 1.58 over 1 trial: growing them together gave 1.58 times the harvest of two separate plots of the same size.

Partial LERs (medians): Beet 0.79 + Lettuce 0.79. Range across treatments 1.57 to 1.61. Medians are taken separately, so the parts need not add up to the median LER. LER above 1 is biased upward by publication bias.

Yield trialgreenhouse / pot trial x1

Green manure and spatial arrangement in the sustainability improvement of lettuce-beet intercrops (Silva · 2018)

Tradition saysGood

3 gardening-lore entries, 1 without a specific citation. Lore is a starting point, not proof.

Companion Plants (Alabama Cooperative Extension System)

Companion plants for both beets and lettuce

Plants that are good neighbours of each. Biggest harvest gain first; each cell links to the evidence for that pair.

Plant	With beets	With lettuce
Cilantro	119% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 1 study. Charts: not listed.Evidence for beets and cilantro	No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for lettuce and cilantro
Onion	64% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 1 study. Charts: recommend.Evidence for beets and onions	No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for lettuce and onions
Cucumber	No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for beets and cucumbers	Fewer pests35% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 5 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for lettuce and cucumbers

Harvest from the same space compares a bed with both crops against the same area split into single-crop beds, counting the harvest of both crops (the land equivalent ratio in yield trials).

Recommended by garden charts for both, not tested yet

Kohlrabi Garlic

The evidence, with sources

Yield trialGood1 entry

GoodLER 1.58greenhouse / pot trial

Brazil, 2011; Replacement design; median LER 1.58 over 3 treatment(s)
Green manure and spatial arrangement in the sustainability improvement of lettuce-beet intercrops (Silva · 2018)

TraditionGood3 entries

GoodBeet helps Lettuce
Beets: helps lettuce
Companion Plants (Alabama Cooperative Extension System)
GoodLettuce helps Beet
Lettuce: helps Beets
List of companion plants (uncited entry) (Wikipedia)
GoodBeet helps Lettuce
Lettuce: helped by beets
Companion Plants (Alabama Cooperative Extension System)

Plan a bed with beets and lettuce

All neighbours of beet and of lettuce, or every pair at once in the companion planting chart.

Have you grown beets and lettuce together?

Tell other gardeners what happened: spacing, pests, harvest, or ask a question. Reader notes are not checked by us and do not change the verdicts on this page.