Liska
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Buttercrunch and Green Towers lettuce: when to start picking

Okay, so I did a search and couldn't find anything so sorry for another newb question (I probably missed it completely, if there's another post mentioned please link me to it!)

I'm growing both green towers and buttercrunch lettuce. I know the buttercrunch lettuce is actually a head lettuce, but how can I tell when I can start picking the leaves, or picking the entire "head" so to speak ? I came home today and some of the leaves on both varieties have grown to about 4-5 inches tall... Is there a point when I should start pruning off the leaves for munching? I cut off the top of one of the butterbrunch leafs today out of curiosity and, well, it tasted pretty awesome :D However, there's really no middle/no head. it's just a bunch of outer leaves!

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soil
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pick the outer leaves on the buttercrunch once a week or so when about 5 inches tall. this way you can get a continual harvest from them rather than letting them go to head. and once they get bigger and are about to bolt you can either let them go to seed, or harvest the whole thing.

Liska
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soil wrote:pick the outer leaves on the buttercrunch once a week or so when about 5 inches tall. this way you can get a continual harvest from them rather than letting them go to head. and once they get bigger and are about to bolt you can either let them go to seed, or harvest the whole thing.
OH cool! Thank you so much! Should I do the same thing with the romaine?

DoubleDogFarm
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Liska,

Yes, like Soil suggested. Pick the outer leaves of butterhead, romaine, loose leaf.

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Vegetable%20Garden%20May%2030th%202010/DSC02245.jpg[/img]

Liska
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DoubleDogFarm wrote:Liska,

Yes, like Soil suggested. Pick the outer leaves of butterhead, romaine, loose leaf.

[img]https://i67.photobucket.com/albums/h300/eric_wa/Vegetable%20Garden%20May%2030th%202010/DSC02245.jpg[/img]
Oh wow, y our lettuces are beautiful!

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engineeredgarden
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doubledogfarm - Wow! That is beautiful...

EG

Dixana
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DD you better make room, me, my plants, and the rest of my herd are coming to live with you :D

DoubleDogFarm
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Thank You,

Ok, We will start a commune :D

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lakngulf
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soil wrote:pick the outer leaves on the buttercrunch once a week or so when about 5 inches tall. this way you can get a continual harvest from them rather than letting them go to head. and once they get bigger and are about to bolt you can either let them go to seed, or harvest the whole thing.
Please elaborate on the "go to seed" part. My buttercrunch and romaine has continued to grow, is about to flower, and I am assuming seed will follow. What do I do? Harvest the seed? Or let it fall?

DoubleDogFarm
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lakngulf,

Take a look at this link. Looks like you collect the seed when the flower turns to fluff. Cut the seed heads off and shake into a paper bag.

https://uncletomsgarden.blogspot.com/2006/07/collecting-lettuce-seed.html

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applestar
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I think one of the greatest advantages of growing your own lettuce is that you CAN harvest only as much as you need at a time, rather than harvesting the entire head and letting the flavor and texture degrade in the fridge.

Liska
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I'm so excited to go home and start picking some of the leaves for a salad with tonights dinner, I've been restless all day. Unfortunately I think I might be getting rained on, but non the less I have a friend coming over to pick a couple of leaves up tomorrow too so she can eat some.

And thanks for the seeding info - previously I never thought about letting any of the plants go to seed and using that to grow plants again next year, but I'm starting to consider doing so and it's really helpful!

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soil
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Please elaborate on the "go to seed" part. My buttercrunch and romaine has continued to grow, is about to flower, and I am assuming seed will follow. What do I do? Harvest the seed? Or let it fall?
sure thing.

when the plant starts to bolt and go to flower it will stretch tall. then it will send out a bunch of shoots like in the link posted above. they almost look like dandelion flowers and seeds. once you get a lot of the puffs on the plant. chop it and hang it upside down to dry in a nice shady spot out of the winds. sometimes it helps to put a tray under to catch any falling seeds, but most will stay in the flower heads. once dry you can pluck off the individual seed heads. I recommend keeping them in the heads until you are ready to plant. then simply rub between your fingers and the seeds fall out. one plant can produce thousands of seeds.

I find the best way to sow them is in the fall, just toss them out onto the soil where you want them before a good rain.( I plant them in november here) we have mild winters and the plants grow through the spring. once they start growing you can thin them out to about 5-6 inches apart( but you don't have to) and eat the ones you culled. one cool thing is you have enough seeds from one plant to just toss lettuce seeds everywhere. they grow even in thick thick weeds. I have so many volunteer buttercrunch plants this year. and the funny thing is the ones that picked there own spots are growing better than the ones in the beds.

make sure to choose seed from the healthiest plant as to pass on the best genetics for next year.



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