Your Favorite Lettuce

[Father'sDaughter]

Received new packets of Sweetie Baby and Lollo Bionda seeds today. I've been considering starting some indoors. Maybe I will.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Worth1

That little tray I planted I almost went cross eyed planting the seeds.
I use the wet tip of a BBQ skewer to pick up each seed and put it in the furrow.
After it was in the furrow I placed a pencil there so I would know where to put the next seed.
Very time consuming.
Worth

I have a different method for sowing tiny seeds . It might sound primitive but it is scientific. Here is how.

= get a pinch of seeds ( ~100 ?)
= Get a cup or two of some fine garden soil or potting mix.
= Mix the two really well (take your time !)
= if you want to sow 4 rows, divide the mix into roughly 4 portions.
= sprinkle each portion in each row in 2 or 3 passes, to ensure even statistical distribution.
......
By statistical probability distribution, most of the seeds will be spaced at a good standard deviation.
With less expensive seeds I will mix in more seeds and later thin, what the heck !

Gardeneer

[pinklady5]

Originally Posted by kath

You can sow it in the garden anytime and it will come up by itself- I read that a woman used to sow it on top of the snow! If you want the earliest lettuce, though, I'd start plants indoors ~ 3-4 weeks ahead of plant out. Last year I put plants out at the end of March here and they were fine. I sow seed outdoors in mid to late March depending on the weather/snow cover. Many varieties are good with temps in the upper 20's. You need to harden them off and get them used to the cold a bit and I've always got some heavy row cover handy and hoops in place in case I want to cover them up.

If you don't want to fuss that much, plants should be fine in your area by April 1st. Remember to plant more seeds every 10 days to 2 weeks for a continuous supply.

Thanks Kath! Much appreciated for the info!

[Worth1]

I have two questions.

How much shade can lettuce handle?
I am also about ready to plant some radicchio.
What I have is a spot on the south east side of my house that has wonderful soil and is protected buy a chain link fence.
It gets good morning and mid day sun in the winter and spring because the leaves on the trees aren't out till March.

Worth

[Worth1]

Okay I know this is the lettuce thread but while out I looked for something I couldn't find.

So to replaced it for the time being I ended up buying some radish seeds. French dressing, Crimson giant, and Icicle.
All three are planted in the bed.
On top of that I bought some beets, Detroit dark red, carrot Scarlet Nantes, parsnips All American, Chinese cabbage Michihli, and Cilantro.
All of this plus the lettuce will go in the little kitchen garden next to the house.

Worth

[greenthumbomaha]

Very nice project. I branched out a little in the last two years from just peppers and tomatoes. Don't plant all the cilantro at once though. Save some for when each batch bolts.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by greenthumbomaha

Very nice project. I branched out a little in the last two years from just peppers and tomatoes. Don't plant all the cilantro at once though. Save some for when each batch bolts.

I want the seeds.

Coriander.

Worth

[Worth1]

Now where is that confounded lettuce thread oh here it is.

Today I planted all of the lettuce in the ground except for the black seeded Simpson.

I ran out of ideas where to put the rest of the Limestone so I planted some between the onions.
The limestone I planted about 3 inches apart so I can eat lettuce as I thin it out.
Now here is a question.
What I have done with the Romain is put it in a 6 inch grid can I plant cilantro in this grid between the lettuce?
Worth

[Worth1]

I had plenty of space between the onion rows so I planted the Black Seeded Simpson there.
Now all of the lettuce sprouts are planted just as the sun is going down.


Worth

[bower]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Now where is that confounded lettuce thread oh here it is.

Today I planted all of the lettuce in the ground except for the black seeded Simpson.

I ran out of ideas where to put the rest of the Limestone so I planted some between the onions.
The limestone I planted about 3 inches apart so I can eat lettuce as I thin it out.
Now here is a question.
What I have done with the Romain is put it in a 6 inch grid can I plant cilantro in this grid between the lettuce?
Worth

I tried planting cilantro in a lettuce bed this past summer, and it didn't produce much. Got shaded out by the lettuce.
The way they do it at the farm, the cilantro is sown as a row quite thick in a band an inch or two wide. Spacing between rows would be about 8 inches. So they grow up thick and close together but get lots of light.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by bower

I tried planting cilantro in a lettuce bed this past summer, and it didn't produce much. Got shaded out by the lettuce.
The way they do it at the farm, the cilantro is sown as a row quite thick in a band an inch or two wide. Spacing between rows would be about 8 inches. So they grow up thick and close together but get lots of light.

Thanks I wont do it then I have plenty of room anyway.
Maybe a test spot to see what happens but not depend on it my sun is way stronger than yours.

Worth

[Gardeneer]

Cilantro is a cool crop. It can even tolerate frost and over winter in like SW Texas.
It will bolt before you can say "AH" ! So you need to do staggered planting.
Yes , its seeds called "Coriander" is a good spice. I use them all the time. It is sold by the pound in Indo-Pakistani and Mexican stores, real cheap. My only use for cilantro is in fresh salsa and as garnish in garden salad. When you cook it or dry it, the flavor will be gone, similar to Basil.

Gardeneer

[Worth1]

The roots are edible too thats is another reason I am growing it.

Worth

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Worth1

The roots are edible too thats is another reason I am growing it.

Worth

I didn't know that.
I learned something today, thanks.

Gardeneer

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

I didn't know that.
I learned something today, thanks.

Gardeneer

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