Hello! I am fairly new to gardening and am having some issues with my lettuce. I'd love any suggestions!
I sowed romaine seeds on December 20th. When they were apprx. 2" tall I transplanted into a double dug bed, amended with composted horse manure, sulfur, and have been feeding them with a seaweed fertilizer (this fertilizer is 0-0-10, something I chose because a soil test showed a very high level of phosphorus, but very low potassium, and I assumed the manure would be a sufficient amount of nitrogen).
The lettuces are still small, none taller than 4". I thought it might be due to the intense heat we were having here in north florida, but the variety is supposed to be more heat tolerant than others.
Any advice on what I could try?
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hendi_alex
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 3604
- Joined: Sun Jul 06, 2008 7:58 am
- Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina
Arugula tolerates the heat much better than lettuce. If you like the somewhat peppery flavor, arugula is great in salad greens.
Also, if you are willing to go to the trouble, placing some 40% or 50% shade cloth so the plants avoid direct noon to afternoon direct sunlight, you may squeeze a few extra weeks out of the lettuce.
Also, if you are willing to go to the trouble, placing some 40% or 50% shade cloth so the plants avoid direct noon to afternoon direct sunlight, you may squeeze a few extra weeks out of the lettuce.
Susa, next fall try some leaf lettuce varieties like Black Seeded Simpson, Red Oak Leaf or maybe a blend by Burpee that has several loose leaf salad green varieties in the pack. They grow very colorful and fast and you simply pick individual leaves off the plant for continued production. My experience is the loose leaf varieties grow faster and seem less prone to bugs and disease wreaking havoc with the plants.
Like others have mentioned, chard is great and so is Kale. I grow 2 varieties of chard (Fordhook and Bright Lites) and I also have curly leaf Kale. Between these, it only takes up about 20 ft. of row and I can't possibly eat all the plants produce.
Like others have mentioned, chard is great and so is Kale. I grow 2 varieties of chard (Fordhook and Bright Lites) and I also have curly leaf Kale. Between these, it only takes up about 20 ft. of row and I can't possibly eat all the plants produce.
Black seeded simpson does fairly well in the heat for me as well as romaine. I was going to say, "just wait a little longer, it usually goes slow and then gets in a hurry" but it looks like it got in a hurry before I could tell youSusa wrote:Thanks for the tips. We've been getting some cooler weather and a ton of rain here, and, surprise, the lettuce is now growing quite rapidly!
Don't let the leaves get too big, they start to get bitter, especially in the heat. Pick them when they are about 4"-6" long. Just those leaves though, not the whole plant, then you can harvest a couple times a week. Glad it got going for you. The Chard suggestion will also help shade your lettuce and keep it a little cooler in that Fl sun.