How to Grow Corn Salad Herb, Mache

About Growing Corn Salad Plants in Your Herb Garden

Corn Salad herb is a hardy, quick-growing, gourmet salad green. Also commonly called Mache lettuce, it has a mild, nutty flavor with a growth habit similar to buttercrunch lettuce. Corn Salad plants are classified as an herb. But, they are consumed as a vegetable.

Mache has oval, or spoon-shaped outer leaves, and a rosette, loosehead center. Native to Europe where it grows wild, it is a very hardy, cool weather crop. It can be over-wintered in many areas.

Corn Salad is best known as a gourmet vegetable green in salads. est, it is also considered an herb. It is good steamed, or in stir-fry recipes.

Did You Know? In Europe, sheep graze on Corn Salad, which is also called Lamb’s Lettuce.

Nutritional Value

One cup of raw Corn Salad contains approximately:

12 calorie
2 g carbs
0 cholesterol
0.2 g fat
1.1 g protein
2 mg sodium

Corn Salad Plant Growing Specifications

Days to Harvest: 40 to 70 days after planting seeds in the garden, depending on growing conditions and the variety of seeds.

Plant Height: 6 to 24 inches tall.

Light Needs: Full sunlight. Partial shade in hot regions.

Ideal Soil pH: 6.0 – 7.0.

Plant Hardiness Zones: 3 – 8

Ideal Growing Temperatures

Daytime: 60 to 75° F.
Nighttime: 40° F minimum.

Plant Type: Annual.

Deer Resistant? Yes. Deer, rabbits, and other foraging pests do not like the strong scent.

Native To: Europe, North Africa, western Asia.

Botanical Name: Valerianella locusta

Other Names: Lamb’s Lettuce, Mâche, French Corn Salad, Italian Corn Salad

Corn Salad Plant Propagation

Corn Salad is grown from seeds. For a spring crop, sow seeds as soon as the ground can be worked. For a Fall crop, sow seeds as the weather begins to cool in your area.

Make your planting in rows, or broadcast sow in blocks.

To over-winter, even in cold areas, sow seeds from late September to October. Plants are hardy to 5 degrees, or lower.

For a continuous crop, make smaller plantings every two to three weeks.

Seeds sprout best when the soil temperature is 50-70 degrees.

Space Mache seedlings or thin plants to 4 inches apart, to allow rosette to fully form.

Final Plant Spacing: Space Mache plants 12 inches apart.

Days to Germination: 7 – 14 days.

How to Grow Corn Salad Plants

Planting and Soil Needs

Corn Salad is easy to grow. Plant them in a location where they will receive full sun to partial, light shade. The soil should be rich, fertile, and well-draining. As a cool-weather crop, the plants grow best when planted as a spring or Fall crop.

Transplanting should only be done in cool, preferably cloudy weather. If the weather is hot and sunny, then we recommend putting off transplanting, if possible. If this is not possible, then transplant them in the early evening hours. Water thoroughly and every day after, unless it rains, for about a week.

Tip: When transplanting Mache in hot weather, place some form of sun shade over the plant for a couple of days. Any makeshift shade will do.

The key to a successful crop is to get it growing at a fast pace. That means plenty of water and a healthy dose of fertilizer containing nitrogen.

For early spring crops, slightly elevate the planting location, if your area receives a lot of rain.

The plants grow in almost any soil. For best results, the soil should be high in nitrogen. Add plenty of compost and/or manure before planting.

Light Requirements

Corn Salad plants grow best when planted in a location where they receive at least five to six hours or more of direct sunlight. They benefit from a little partial shade during the hot midday period.

This is a cool-weather plant. In warm areas of the country, grow them in partial shade. While this is not optimum for plant production, it helps to avid wilting, bolting, and sun scald.

Fertilizer Needs

Fuel the growth of these herbaceous greens with plenty of fertilizer. Mix a nitrogen-rich fertilizer into the planting site. Then, apply a nitrogen-rich fertilizer every two to three weeks. The plants also respond well to liquid fertilizer, too.

Water Needs

Another trick to successfully growing Corn Salad is to keep it growing fast, with lots of water. Keep the soil moist, but not wet, during the entire growing cycle.

Do not let the soil get soggy for extended periods of time. Soggy soil can cause root rot.

Other Steps

First, keep the area well-weeded. Otherwise, the weeds will compete for nutrients and soil moisture.

Mulch around the plants to retain soil moisture and help to keep the weeds down.

Allow one or two plants to mature and produce seeds. Then, gather them before the pods burst and the seeds fall to the ground.

Plants are largely free of insects and disease. However, slugs and snails can be an occasional problem. Hence, apply an organic slug and snail bait around the plants.