lettuce

[sternyboy]

New fire red


Iceberg


Buttercrunch


My main question is, Have I left the buttercrunch too long and its gone to seed? (If lettuce goes to seed? )
Or do I just pick the leaves as and when I want them?

Is the new fire red ready to pick? Again do I just pick off the leaves I want or the whole plant?

And is the iceberg ready?


Sorry for all the Q's but this is my 1st year of properly growing stuff

[Farmer_Gyles]

buttercrunch looks like it's gone to seed - pick some leaves now if you want, give them a try - i've got no idea how good lettuce is once it runs to seed as i just compost it

the red is a loose leaf lettuce - pick what you want when you want - you could have picked the odd few leaves when it was much smaller, no need to wait this long to start enjoying it!

icebergs - regardless of variety, these should form a ball in the middle with wide, loose leaves outside - supermarkets sell the ball (head?) only - i pick some of the outer leaves before the ball is full size - better than waiting forever for crispy lettuce!

using a growbag is an awful lot of compost for 3 lettuce - can get expensive and take up a lot of space - you could put a few different loose leaf lettuces and things like rocket / mizuna into one large tub for a "pick as you want salad tub" - saves a lot of space - and the icebergs could go into say 5" pots if you don't have much land for planting

ps - i'm no expert, but i know what i like and i like what i do!

[Bren In Pots]

If your Buttercrunch tastes bitter you can always use it in stir fries instead of throwing it out.

[sternyboy]

Ok, cheers for the repies

Is it worth using the seeds for next year then or not worth the hassle?

[Paulottie]

Lettuce seed is pretty cheap. (and I'm mean and save a lot of seed!) If you had loads of space yes ...but in growbags? no rip it out and plant another. The secret to lettuce growing is sow a little every fortnight (best in modules...3 seeds in each then thin to the strongest, the less root disturbance at planting the better). Continuity is everything .

My other advice is ....'if it looks good eat it.' I can't really see if the iceberg has got a heart but When I started growing i'd have a good row and I'd admire them until they were all ready then start harvesting....believe me there are only so many lettuce you can eat...the whole lot would be slug peppered, bitter flowering mess before I got 1/2 way down.