Everything I know about: lettuce edition

Like others I was having writers block, then Alecto unplugged that dam.

What I don't know about gardening could fill volumes, what I do know could fill a few paragraphs. What I am learning is a different story all together.

Here's what I learned about lettuce:

Lettuce can be delicious or it can be bitter. My guess is, the change is because when it is young it is pumping up the sugars for energy to grow. When it gets what all plants need (sunlight and to varying degrees warmth) it says: HEY! time to make babies! So all the sugars that make the leaves so delicious go into growing a stem for flowers and ultimately seeds. The trick is to keep the plant thinking that conditions are not right for reproduction, that it still doesn't have enough solar panels to collect energy for seeds.

There are two kinds, head lettuce and leaf, they both like shade and cool temps. (most varieties at least) So assuming you have one of the common varieties lets talk shade and temp. Unless you are in some kind of climate controlled environment there is little you can do about temp. Except keep it in the shade, so that takes care of two things.

Complete shade doesnt work very well, but if you can put it behind something that will shelter it during the hottest hours of the day...perfect. If you're in the open you can do one of two things, use shade cloth, or double your productivity. How?

Use some kind of vining crop like peas, pole beans, or grow cucumbers or melons on the south or southwest face of your lettuce area. The vines will climb up and give you plenty of shade (but still let some sun through) Using legumes like peas is a great idea, because they, much like lettuce enjoy the colder months, and when both crops are exhausted you can follow up with a heavy nitrogen feeder in that spot during the hot months.

Next is spacing and size. The best lettuce is baby lettuce. We're talking about leaf lettuce at this point. If you are growing head lettuce, by all means follow the spacing instructions recommended, (or better yet, keep them close enough that their outer leaves just touch at maturity) So leaf lettuce, yes back to that... Spacing: plant 'em tight, In Jeavons "How to grow more vegetables...." He recommends 6 inches for leaf lettuce, I did that in one spot, and if the leaf lettuce plants are allowed to grow big, its a good spacing. I say don't let them get that big, plant them tighter and pick the leaves smaller, the outer ones grow first so grab them when they are suitable, between 2-2 1/2 inches, leave the core leaves in place, in a few days they will be the outer leaves. Alternately you could just snip the whole deal off and leave a leaf or two on the stump and it will renew. It depends on if you want a lot at a time, or a smaller steadier supply.

I had never grown greens before this spring, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but I've grown several varieties each of which has varying degrees of tolerance to heat and light. But thats the nice thing about heirloom varieties, there is a wide range of available breeds. Dizzying to neophytes like myself. They have a fast turn around (especially if you are picking your leaves small). So remember the three S's Size Spacing and Shade.

So there it is, about 4 months worth of observation and information, and a whole lot of salad, some bitter, some sweet, but all educational.

Did I miss anything?