I have been eating lettuce for over a month but now my outside lettuce beds are all 9 inches high! I got a little smarter this year and put screens on pegs about 15 inches above the lettuce and placed lattice on top of the screens to help cool and shade it. I think I will get a few more weeks before it starts to go to seed from the heat!
With the screens even the hard rain does not mat it down. I sprinkled some Epsom salts to kill the small snails which put lots of small holes in lettuce. I also have carrots and radish mixed in the lettuce beds which will remain after the lettuce is to old! Mixed colors in the lettuce bed looks great. I bordered all the lettuce beds with onions.
Ah, now it's my time to be envious of your growing conditions. My lettuces played out several weeks ago when they bolted and went to seed almost overnight. Way too warm now for me to even attempt to grow any of the leafy stuff until sometime in late September.
So, for now it's off to the store for 6 packs of romaine to help with my lettuce jones. But I sure miss the variety I had with at least 8 different types and textures to pick for salads.
So, for now it's off to the store for 6 packs of romaine to help with my lettuce jones. But I sure miss the variety I had with at least 8 different types and textures to pick for salads.
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sweetiepie
- Green Thumb
- Posts: 397
- Joined: Wed Mar 11, 2015 12:18 pm
- Location: York, ND (Zone 3b)
That is a lot of lettuce. Mine is just coming up. My boys are mostly meat and potatoes so the lettuce is for daughter and me . The lettuce lasts 2 to 3 months here before it bolts. Though the year is weird, hot one day, cold the next. The screens are a great ides. I have many old window screens I used to cover the strawberries last year from most of the birds.