Which varieties should you plant?
When it comes to picking lettuce, choosing the right seed is not just a matter of preference for a certain leaf shape. With lettuce you should pay more attention than with other types of vegetables that the seeds are sown according to the instructions at the recommended time of the year. This is the only way to ensure optimal development of the lettuce varieties, which are often adapted to a particular season.
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- Prefer the lettuce and prick it out
- Sow delicious and healthy lettuce yourself
- Grow lettuce easily on the balcony
Where do you grow lettuce?
Like any other type of lettuce, pick lettuce can be grown in a raised bed or in a normal garden bed. However, most varieties are very susceptible to snail infestation. To be able to prevent this circumstance, it may make sense to grow it in a raised bed that is safe from snails. The best protection against snails can usually be found with lettuce in cultivation on the balcony, where snails are generally very difficult to get to.
When can you sow or bring forward lettuce?
From the end of February it makes sense to sow lettuce at the earliest if you want to grow it outdoors. The young plants grown on the windowsill can be separated into the open ground around mid-May at the earliest, if they are protected from late night frosts with a fleece at the same time. From May and in warm temperatures from the end of April, you can sow various types of lettuce directly outside.
What do you need to know for the lettuce to flower?
In general, when growing lettuce, one does not value the flowering of the cultivated plants. Since the seeds for lettuce are usually very cheap, the work of collecting seeds is not really worth it. In addition, the leaves of the lettuce can only be consumed before flowering, as they take on a very bitter taste afterwards. If you have overlooked a timely harvest, you can look forward to self-sowing the lettuce for the next generation of lettuce plants.
On which substrate and how densely can lettuce be grown?
For the cultivation of lettuce, you should use a moderately fertilized and loose substrate. Pickled lettuce can only tolerate waterlogging to a limited extent, but it should not be able to dry out in summer when it is very hot. A soil enriched with compost offers almost all types of lettuce ideal conditions for a rich harvest. For a harvest of strong and beautiful lettuce leaves, it is also important to keep a distance of at least five to ten centimeters between the individual lettuce plants.
Tips & Tricks
It is usually not a problem if you haven't sown a lettuce in February due to lack of time or space. The following varieties can also quickly grow to a harvestable size when sown outside due to their strong growth characteristics:
- Venetians
- Lollo Bionda
- Lollo rosso
