I grow organically for a healthy and safe food supply,for a clean and sustainable environment,for an enjoyable and rewarding experience.
Lettuces and greens are some of the easiest greens to growand best of all you can plant them before summer cops like tomatoes and then youcan plant them after the tomatoes are finished.
These are the four main types of lettuces in order from easiest to grow to hardestto grow.
loose leafcos or romainebutter head or bibb and crisphead like an icebergI want my butter head and my romaine to get off to a good start so I'm going to start thosein trays in the greenhouseStart your lettuces and greens in trays about four weeks before you. wannatransplant outside into the gardenand they like daytime temperatures between forty five and sixty five degreesPlant your transplants or sow your seed atleast a month before the hot weather of summer setsinI'm sowing a few seeds into each cellcover lightly with soilabout a quarter of an inch deep for the lettuce and about a half an inch deepfor the greensmake sure and keep the seeds evenly moistWhile my seeds are germinating and growing inside the greenhouse.
I'm going to prepare my lettuce bed Lettuces like full sun except in the summertime and if you're in a hotclimate you probably gonna need some shadeLettuces like a pH of sixto six point eightit does not tolerate a pH lower than six point zero.
So you may want to do a pH test on your lettuce bed.
Work in a nice balanced vegetable fertilizer into the top three inches ofsoiland any lime you might need to raise the pH,Loose leaf lettuce is one of the easiest to grow so I'm going to seed it directly intothe garden bedthis is called direct sowingGreens like arugula mash mustard and tatsoihave the same cultural requirements as loose leaf lettuce so if you're growing greens or amix follow the same steps.
Make sure you have a level and cleaned seed bedlettuce is a small seed and large clods in the soil will not give you good seedto soil contact and it can reduce your germination rates.
You can succession seed lettuce every ten to fourteen days and that way you'll geta continuous supplyWhen it comes to direct seeding loose leaf lettuce there's a couple ways youcan do it.
You can sow it a patch and harvest it youngpatches like this are great for seed mixes like our mesclun mix or our gourmetlettuce blend.
You can also sow it in rows space your rows to about eight inches to twelve inchesapartaccording to the instructions on the seed pack the planting depth should beabout a quarter inch to half an inchWater your newly planted seedsand keep the bedevenly moist lettuces likefrequent light watering.
Now that my seedlings have sprouted it's time to thinto the strongest seedlings and i'm using these snips because .
I can thin withoutdisturbing the soilSlugs snails and earwigs are the major pest of lettucein addition to hand picking we carry traps and organic pesticides to help youdeal with these crawleysIt's time to harvest the lettuceharvest early in the morning when the turgor pressure is at its highest that waythe leaves will stay crisp.
Turgor pressure is like blood pressure for plantsFor your row grown leaf lettucejust break up the outside leaves and allow the center to grow moreAfter about thirty or forty five daysyou can harvest your patch of loose leaf lettuceUsing a lettuce knife or scissorssimply snip the leaves off a couple inches above the soil.
Youcan usually get to three harvests like thisFor the romaine or bibb lettuces harvest the whole plant when it is matureThese usually take forty to fifty days to growLettuce is an easy and satisfying crop to grow so grow your own salad and grow organicfor life.
