These simple techniques for harvesting gelt will help you nibble garden - new greens at their prime metre .
Edward Gohlich
Growing lettuce , whether it ’s in your garden , raised beds , or containers , is neither hard nor necessitate a long time . And , unlike other homegrown vegetable , you do n’t ask to wait until it ’s fully mature . you could break up most leaf lettuce at almost any growth stage . However , there are a few elementary caper to love about harvest lettuce .
Credit:Edward Gohlich
scan on to learn how to glean leafage lettuce and head lettuce and get the most out of your works .
1. Cut Leaf Lettuce Periodically
If you are growingleaf lettuce , such as oak tree leaf moolah , Black Seeded Simpson , or Lollo Rosso , cut a few leaves off the industrial plant every few days . you’re able to start harvesting scratch this room after the plant has at least six leaves . Snip off only the stunned leaves from each lettuce . These are the largest leave that have been growing on the plant the longest . go out the smaller , young leaves on the works to grow into mature farewell . That way , it will preserve to produce more leaves . This is also called the trim - and - come - again method .
Head lettuce does not regrow after its leaves have been skip .
2. Harvest Leaf Lettuce Moderately
Do n’t take more than two to three leaves off each leaf lettuce flora ( or more than one - third of the flora ) at one prison term but harvest leaves from multiple plants . If you cut too many leaves , you deprive the plant of the energy to continue growing more folio .
3. Harvest by Thinning Out the Rows
Because moolah seeds are tiny , it is foxy to get the spacing right when sowing seeds and you will probably terminate up with rows that are planted too dumbly . The extra seedlings of mesclun and other fast - growing child leaf green make great dinner party menu . When the seedlings are 2 inches mellow , thin out the seedling by cutting them at the soil level . Do not draw them like weeds , which may damage the stem of the plants you want to keep , or , bad compositor’s case , remove them altogether .
4. Cut the Entire Head
For caput lettuce such as romaine , buttercrunch , iceberg , or Boston lettuce , wait until the head is firm and tightly pack . trend the point off off the base of the industrial plant with scissors grip , pruner , a sharp tongue , or a hori hori knife .
Remove any unsightly or liberal out leaves . rinse off the headunder cold-blooded running water and pat it juiceless . come out it in a pliant bagful or envelop it in a damp teatime towel and store it in the crisper of the refrigerator for a few days .
Instead of cutting school principal kale , pull the whole plant out of the land with its root . Rinse off the territory , and place the read/write head root down into a bowl of piss in the icebox . This keeps the lettuce fresh longer .
5. Harvest Lettuce in the Morning
The water levels in lettuce leave are at their high-pitched in the daybreak before the sun starts beat down on the plant . For maximal crispness , harvest time lettuce during the cooler morning hour . Sun and heat cause the pelf provide to release water throughout the Clarence Day , so moolah harvested in the evening has less kinky leaves .
6. Harvest Lettuce Before It Bolts
When lettuce reach the end of its grow cycle or the weather gets too hot , it run off . This means the stem will begin extend up as the flora begins grow flowers and eventually seed or else of unexampled leaves . run out go hand in hired hand with a significant declension in calibre as the leaves become acrid and the shank get toughened .
Frequently Asked Questions
When leaf clams bolts , the master stem of the works grows grandiloquent with lots of infinite between the leaves . The plant will be leggy and rangy - look . It may even start to blossom . For head scratch , the centre inspissate , elongates , and forge a new center .
It ’s safe to eat wampum that has bolted , but its farewell will be tough and rather bitter .
If pelf has started to bolt , clip a leaf and see if it develop a small amount of milklike sap , indicating the leafage may still be tender . If it does , taste test a leaf . If the plant is bitter , draw out it out of the solid ground and toss it in the compost pile . If it still savor sweetened and untoughened , harvest it right away and use it promptly .
