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Dragonborn
- Newly Registered
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- Joined: Tue Oct 09, 2012 12:48 am
- Location: Ohio
Head Lettuce?
I am not an entirely new gardener, but I still don't know everything. I have planted the usuals of corn, green beans, tomatoes, peas, etc etc for about 4 years now. But I cannot for the life of me, grow head lettuce nor find the seeds to do it? And I mean like iceburg lettuce, the lettuce that you usually find at the market wrapped in plastic. Last year I got a pack of iceburg lettuce seeds that looked like the head lettuce I was after, but it turned into like a leaf lettuce? What am I doing wrong? I'm not exactly sure of the measurements of my plot of land I use. Its not small but its not gigantic either
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applestar
- Mod
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- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
Dillbert probably has it right.
To grow head lettuce, I have to start them inside around mid-last week of Feb, then plant them out early under protection against hard freezes, and fight slugs and snails that come out earlier in the warmer protected beds by uncovering, and then covering them back up again.
On top of that, harvesting a head lettuce as a head doesn't make much sense unless you're giving it away or have enough people to eat it right away. It's much better to harvest lettuce leaves as you need them.... So then you wonder why you're growing lopsided looking lettuces with leaves that get smaller and insist on trying to curl tighter and tighter as the season progresses, which BTW creates great hiding places for the slugs, snails, and aphids....
Also, if you get the timing wrong, iceberg type lettuce will bolt before it has chance to make heads when it gets warmer/hotter.... And they seem to bolt before any other kind of lettuce.
To grow head lettuce, I have to start them inside around mid-last week of Feb, then plant them out early under protection against hard freezes, and fight slugs and snails that come out earlier in the warmer protected beds by uncovering, and then covering them back up again.
On top of that, harvesting a head lettuce as a head doesn't make much sense unless you're giving it away or have enough people to eat it right away. It's much better to harvest lettuce leaves as you need them.... So then you wonder why you're growing lopsided looking lettuces with leaves that get smaller and insist on trying to curl tighter and tighter as the season progresses, which BTW creates great hiding places for the slugs, snails, and aphids....
Also, if you get the timing wrong, iceberg type lettuce will bolt before it has chance to make heads when it gets warmer/hotter.... And they seem to bolt before any other kind of lettuce.
I tried to grow Great Lakes and Ithaca head lettuce. Ithaca did a little better.
I live in Hawaii.
Head lettuce needs a long cool season to grow. It takes up quite a bit of space as the early leaves unfold like a cabbage.
I only got a small head and it wasn't very tight.
Considering it is also one of the poorest lettuces nutritionally and Bib and Romaine taste so much better, and are easier to grow, I just buy my head lettuce at the store.
I live in Hawaii.
Head lettuce needs a long cool season to grow. It takes up quite a bit of space as the early leaves unfold like a cabbage.
I only got a small head and it wasn't very tight.
Considering it is also one of the poorest lettuces nutritionally and Bib and Romaine taste so much better, and are easier to grow, I just buy my head lettuce at the store.
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
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- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Have to agree with everyone else. It isn't hard to find seeds for head lettuce in the garden catalogs, but it has never worked out for me and I gave up on trying to grow it. So I grow a variety of beautifully colored leaf lettuces. Since I have limited space, I buy the packets of mixed lettuce seeds.
I grow red leaf, romaine and ice berg lettuce from seed every year, but everyone is right. It is difficult to find the seeds, they require a long, cool growing season, and bolt quickly. And they are pest magnets!
The first year I bought them as seedlings from a local nursery and they bolted before heading because it was too warm , so I collected the seed. My climate is very, very hot and our cool season is short. I've gotta start the seeds in summer if I want them to head. As soon as one sprouts I immediately take it inside and they then live under the grow lights for the duration of summer in window pots designed for flowers (the long, shallow kind). Usually 2-3 to a pot. If you start indoors I don't recommend using a heat mat. I continually harvest the outer leaves (can't help myself) so my heads are never as large as the ones at the store (not even close).
Once the weather is truly cool (mid-November if I'm lucky) I move the pots outside but don't transplant them as that also seems to make them more prone to bolting early. Just a side dressing of soil+compost+worm poo. Giving them a balanced fertilizer will also encourage them to flower...especially if it is early autumn and they've experienced too warm of weather inside. They're divas. I stop harvesting the outer leaves once it's cool enough to start the baby lettuce mixes/spinach. I get decent sized heads by mid-January if I've been leaving them alone and have to harvest them by mid-late February or they will bolt. The romaine bolts first, then ice berg, then red leaf (usually). I always leave one of each to go to seed as I've found the older seeds don't germinate as well after a season and I don't have room to sow tons of seeds and see what comes up.
This is what works for me, but I do live in zone 9a (sunset zone 13) where there is no snow on the ground and the sun light is very bright even if it is 30F. It may be different for you. I have personally never done so, but I see you can order seeds from both the Seeds of Change and Baker Creek catalogs.
I did not collect any Romaine seeds (not planning to grow it again) but just went out this morning and collected all the ice berg seeds. The red leaf has bolted not bloomed yet. I have more than enough for my use. If any of you would like some feel free to pm me.
The first year I bought them as seedlings from a local nursery and they bolted before heading because it was too warm , so I collected the seed. My climate is very, very hot and our cool season is short. I've gotta start the seeds in summer if I want them to head. As soon as one sprouts I immediately take it inside and they then live under the grow lights for the duration of summer in window pots designed for flowers (the long, shallow kind). Usually 2-3 to a pot. If you start indoors I don't recommend using a heat mat. I continually harvest the outer leaves (can't help myself) so my heads are never as large as the ones at the store (not even close).
Once the weather is truly cool (mid-November if I'm lucky) I move the pots outside but don't transplant them as that also seems to make them more prone to bolting early. Just a side dressing of soil+compost+worm poo. Giving them a balanced fertilizer will also encourage them to flower...especially if it is early autumn and they've experienced too warm of weather inside. They're divas. I stop harvesting the outer leaves once it's cool enough to start the baby lettuce mixes/spinach. I get decent sized heads by mid-January if I've been leaving them alone and have to harvest them by mid-late February or they will bolt. The romaine bolts first, then ice berg, then red leaf (usually). I always leave one of each to go to seed as I've found the older seeds don't germinate as well after a season and I don't have room to sow tons of seeds and see what comes up.
This is what works for me, but I do live in zone 9a (sunset zone 13) where there is no snow on the ground and the sun light is very bright even if it is 30F. It may be different for you. I have personally never done so, but I see you can order seeds from both the Seeds of Change and Baker Creek catalogs.
I did not collect any Romaine seeds (not planning to grow it again) but just went out this morning and collected all the ice berg seeds. The red leaf has bolted not bloomed yet.
I have more than enough for my use. If any of you would like some feel free to pm me.-
ElizabethB
- Super Green Thumb
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- Joined: Sat Nov 24, 2012 12:53 am
- Location: Lafayette, LA
I agree with RB. Head lettuce has no taste and little or no nutritional value. I MUCH prefer leaf lettuce. So many varieties, colors and flavors available and much easier to grow.
Don't know why you want to bother with such a flavorless lettuce. Just my 2 cents. Grow leaf lettuce instead. BTW - I tried head lettuce for a couple of years and gave up. Just not worth the effort. Love my fall and January planted leaf lettuce. I do not pull the plant - only harvest the leaves. My crop last much longer that way.
Good luck
Don't know why you want to bother with such a flavorless lettuce. Just my 2 cents. Grow leaf lettuce instead. BTW - I tried head lettuce for a couple of years and gave up. Just not worth the effort. Love my fall and January planted leaf lettuce. I do not pull the plant - only harvest the leaves. My crop last much longer that way.
Good luck
Actually, Elizabeth, I agree. I also dislike iceburg and even romaine lettuce, and I really don't like putting all the effort in for a few plants we will harvest only one time after an insanely long season. Especially considering an head of organic iceburg or romaine is so cheap at the market. I could be using the space those big containers take up for multiple starts for my winter garden. Maybe I would feel differently if I had a small, more space and cost effective hydroponic system, but I don't. 
I started growing the head lettuce a few years back when my boyfriend moved in with me. He was always complaining about me spending the weekends gardening instead of spending time with him. At this point the only vegetables the man ate were basically romaine and iceburg lettuce and he was not at all interested in helping me grow veggies. I thought if I planted some things he liked, it would get him in the garden and off the couch, and then I could have my cake and eat it too! You know, without me getting saddle bags from sitting on the couch eating cake...
Sneaky, ain't I?
Well, I am happy to report that it worked!
Now we garden together and he eats all the veggies I grow, even the things he used to insist "tasted like dirt" like toms and cukes. He will eat the chard and kale and even the new dandelion greens without a second thought, when even my vegetarian friends make faces. 
I was able to convince him that we don't need to grow romaine, though he's still steadfast on the iceburg for some reason. The red leaf is not a big deal to me because I'm content to eat the baby leaves and don't need to let it head, so no need to jump through hoops to keep it from bolting, though it really is pretty when it bolts and flowers. I prefer the mesclun and "gourmet" lettuce mixes and other types of greens. He's come a long way though, so I figure, let him have his crunchy water (iceburg).
I started growing the head lettuce a few years back when my boyfriend moved in with me. He was always complaining about me spending the weekends gardening instead of spending time with him. At this point the only vegetables the man ate were basically romaine and iceburg lettuce and he was not at all interested in helping me grow veggies. I thought if I planted some things he liked, it would get him in the garden and off the couch, and then I could have my cake and eat it too! You know, without me getting saddle bags from sitting on the couch eating cake...
Sneaky, ain't I? Well, I am happy to report that it worked!
Now we garden together and he eats all the veggies I grow, even the things he used to insist "tasted like dirt" like toms and cukes. He will eat the chard and kale and even the new dandelion greens without a second thought, when even my vegetarian friends make faces. I was able to convince him that we don't need to grow romaine, though he's still steadfast on the iceburg for some reason. The red leaf is not a big deal to me because I'm content to eat the baby leaves and don't need to let it head, so no need to jump through hoops to keep it from bolting, though it really is pretty when it bolts and flowers. I prefer the mesclun and "gourmet" lettuce mixes and other types of greens. He's come a long way though, so I figure, let him have his crunchy water (iceburg).