Lettuce and cabbage never form heads

mick1 6/5/2012, 8:36 pm

I have one and one-half 4'x4' squares with lettuce--mostly leaf lettuce, which I cut throughout the season. However, I have tried romaine and iceberg type head-lettuce and also cabbage--a few times over the last two seasons--they seem to grow some nice big leaves, but never form much of a head.

I even have a cabbage left over from last year--it came back this year and just got huge, leafy and put out some nice yellow flowers. I thought I should pull it out so I could plant other stuff--it is taking almost two squares now--but wanted to see what it would do and I just could not bear to kill something that had stuck it out over the winter. The leaves kind of curl in a little, but never really form into a head.

What am I missing to make these plants form heads???

dsfin 6/5/2012, 10:36 pm

mick1,

Romain is more upright in its growth and does not form a head similar to what the iceberg lettuce or cabbage would do.

Your cabbage is not heading up because it has "bolted". It is flowering and preparing to produce seed.

The iceberg lettuce should head-up. Reasons that it might not do so:

it may bolt (go to seed). This is caused from temperatures which are too warm.
nutritional deficiencies.

From Wikipedia I found the following.
Cultivation problems

Nutrient deficiencies, including a lack of boron, phosphorus, calcium, molybdenum or copper, can cause a variety of plant problems that range from malformed plants to a lack of head growth.
---Dave


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Lettuce and cabbage never form heads

Lettuce and cabbage never form heads

Re: Lettuce and cabbage never form heads