Table of Contents
How do you keep lettuce from growing taller?
Whenever possible, choose varieties of lettuce that are slow to bolt. Keep your plants as cool as you can—some shade helps keep lettuce healthy and slows down bolting. Trimming off the flowering stalk as soon as it appears helps to slow the process down.
Why is my lettuce growing straight up?
Most lettuce varieties are cool season crops. When the hot weather comes, they send up tall stalks that will flower and set seed. You’ll notice that the leaves begin to taste bitter around the same time the stalks elongate. This is called bolting.
Can you eat lettuce that has bolted?
It is safe to eat lettuce during the bolting phase. The leaves of lettuce will taste less bitter earlier in the bolting process and more bitter towards the end. Leaves will become rough, dull, and yellow throughout the bolting process.
How do I stop my lettuce from bolting?
3 ways to delay bolting lettuce: 1) Grow bolt tolerant cultivars. Certain varieties of lettuce, spinach, radicchio, cabbage, and other bolt-prone crops have been selected or bred to be more resistant to bolting. 2) Give lettuce some shade. Less light means lower temperatures and often more moisture. 3) Water and mulch.
Why are my lettuce seedlings so tall?
The most common cause of legginess is an insufficient or uneven access to light. When the light source is too dim or distant, seedlings grow quickly in height to get closer to that light. “They get leggy because they’re looking for the light, so a lot of times you’ll see them bending towards the light.”May 7, 2019.
Why is my lettuce so leggy?
Not enough sun can cause your seedlings to develop the long, thin, pale stalks that often are described as “leggy.” Lack of sufficient sun, insufficient water, overcrowding and too much heat also can cause legginess.
Can lettuce grow tall?
Reaching up to 20 inches tall, most romaine lettuces take 60 to 80 days to harvest. The extended growing season works because romaine is able to grow without bolting in the warm summers. Growing red romaine lettuce requires the same garden techniques as growing green varieties.
Can you fix leggy seedlings?
The best way to fix leggy seedlings is give them more light, ASAP! This could mean adding a supplemental grow light if you’re not using one already, upgrading to a stronger light, or lowering your current light closer to the seedlings so it is more effective.
Will leggy seedlings still grow?
What is this? The good news is, leggy seedlings can usually be fixed before it’s too late. I’ve transplanted hundreds of tall, floppy seedlings with success, most of which went on to recover and have normal, productive yields.
How tall should seedlings be before transplanting?
As noted above, make sure that your seedling is about 2-3 inches high before transplanting. We also recommend transplanting a seedling after its two “true leaves” first come out. True leaves are the leaves that grow after the initial seed’s cotyledon leaves come out.
What does leggy lettuce look like?
‘Leggy’ seedlings typically have stretched skinny stems and look fragile. They may be bending forward rather than growing up straight with a strong stem.
How do you fix a bolting seedling?
Preventing Bolting Bolting can be prevented by either planting early in the spring so that bolt-prone plants grow during late spring, or late in the summer so they grow during early fall. You can also add mulch and groundcover to the area, as well as watering regularly in order to keep the soil temperature down.
What does bolting look like?
The signs are easy to identify: Sudden, upward growth—usually of a singular, woody stalk with few leaves. Production of flowers, followed by that of seeds. Slowed production of edible, vegetative growth.
Should I cut the flowers off my lettuce?
When plants flower, it’s generally considered a good thing; however, in vegetables grown for their leaves, such as lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and other cole crops, bolting causes the flavor to turn bitter and the leaves to get smaller and tougher, making them inedible.
What does lettuce look like when it goes to seed?
Small, tender lettuce leaves are attractive to look at and delicious to eat, but when the plant goes to seed, it becomes gangly and unattractive as it bolts (sends up a flower stalk to produce seeds). The blooms resemble small dandelions and the plant becomes quite tall as if it’s reaching for the sun.
Is lettuce self pollinating?
The seeds are very abundant and the good news is that lettuce is self-pollinating. That said, there is a chance of cross pollination by insects so if you want to keep your variety pure you can separate varieties by 10-20 feet.
