Carrot

Daucus carota subsp. sativus

Apiaceae

Lettuce

Lactuca sativa

Asteraceae

Can you plant carrots and lettuce together?

Yes. Carrots and lettuce grow well together. A shared bed gave about 78% 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 carrots and lettuce work together

More harvest from the same bed. In one field trial, a bed with both crops gave about 78% more harvest than the same space split into a carrot bed and a lettuce bed.
Produtividade de cenoura e alface em sistema de consorciação (Caetano · 1999)
Garden charts recommend it. 4 garden chart entries recommend growing them together. Charts pass on gardening tradition; they are not tests.
Evaluation of yield advantage indexes in carrot-lettuce intercropping systems (Bezerra Neto · 2010 · Interciencia)

What to plant with carrots and lettuce

Good neighbours of both, best tested first.

BeanWith carrots: Recommended by garden charts, not testedWith lettuce: 48% more harvest
CucumberWith carrots: Recommended by garden charts, not testedWith lettuce: 35% more harvest
Fava beanWith carrots: Bigger combined harvestWith lettuce: 28% more harvest

How each one was tested, with the evidence

What to keep away from carrots and lettuce

PeaWith carrots: Smaller combined harvest
ParsnipWith carrots: Garden charts advise against it, not tested
DillWith carrots: Garden charts advise against it, not tested
PotatoWith carrots: Garden charts advise against it, not tested
RadishWith carrots: Garden charts advise against it, not tested
CeleryWith 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

4 chart entries: 4 recommend, 0 advise against.

All entries cite a source.

Research

No papers found on this pair.

Yield trial

Good

0.88

0.85

Both crops did about equally well. Partial LER is each crop's share of the yield it would give alone.

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.

Carrot LettuceMedian land equivalent ratio 1.79 over 1 trial: growing them together gave 1.79 times the harvest of two separate plots of the same size.

Partial LERs (medians): Carrot 0.88 + Lettuce 0.86. Range across treatments 1.52 to 2.09. 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 trialfield trial x1

Produtividade de cenoura e alface em sistema de consorciação (Caetano · 1999)

Tradition saysGood

4 gardening-lore entries. Lore is a starting point, not proof.

Evaluation of yield advantage indexes in carrot-lettuce intercropping systems (Bezerra Neto · 2010 · Interciencia)

Companion plants for both carrots and lettuce

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

Plant	With carrots	With lettuce
Bean	No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for carrots and beans	48% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 2 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for lettuce and beans
Cucumber	No trial foundNot tested. Charts: recommend.Evidence for carrots and cucumbers	Fewer pests35% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 5 studies. Charts: recommend.Evidence for lettuce and cucumbers
Fava bean	Bigger combined harvestField trial, 1 study. Charts: not listed.Evidence for carrots and fava beans	28% more harvest from the same spaceField trial, 1 study. Charts: not listed.Evidence for lettuce and fava beans

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).

The evidence, with sources

Yield trialGood1 entry

GoodLER 1.78field trial

Brazil, 1995-1996; Additive design; median LER 1.79 over 12 treatment(s) · partial LER Carrot 0.875, Lettuce 0.855
Produtividade de cenoura e alface em sistema de consorciação (Caetano · 1999)

TraditionGood4 entries

GoodCarrot helps Lettuce
Carrots: helps lettuce
Evaluation of yield advantage indexes in carrot-lettuce intercropping systems (Bezerra Neto · 2010 · Interciencia)
GoodLettuce helps Carrot
Carrots: helped by Lettuce
Evaluation of yield advantage indexes in carrot-lettuce intercropping systems (Bezerra Neto · 2010 · Interciencia)
GoodLettuce helps Carrot
Lettuce: helps Carrots
Evaluation of yield advantage indexes in carrot-lettuce intercropping systems (Bezerra Neto · 2010 · Interciencia)
GoodCarrot helps Lettuce
Lettuce: helped by carrots
Evaluation of yield advantage indexes in carrot-lettuce intercropping systems (Bezerra Neto · 2010 · Interciencia)

Plan a bed with carrots and lettuce

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

Have you grown carrots 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.