When do I give up on the lettuce?

Hasselback 6/19/2012, 7:27 pm

Hey everyone.

I recently tried planting some lettuce from seed. Everything else planted at the same time has germinated. I'm at the upper level of temperature for lettuce to grow. The coolest I can keep it outside is 80 degrees, and that's in the shade. So, a couple of questions...

-When do I throw in the towel and figure that those seeds are doomed?

-Is 80 degrees just too hot to get lettuce to germinate?

-If it is, can you give me some tips on how to lower the soil temp to get it to sprout?

Thanks,
G.

**walshevak** 6/19/2012, 8:22 pm

Try germinating in the air conditioned house.

Kay

Hasselback 6/19/2012, 8:34 pm

Thanks Kay, but most of our house is not air-conditioned. I'll see if I can convince my wife to let me have a couple of pots of lettuce seed in the bedroom.

Do you think that if I get them to sprout, they'll grow in the heat? I have heat-resistant varieties (Jericho and Cherokee). I just wonder if I get them to sprout, will I have plants that cannot bear to live outside.

Thanks,
G.

CapeCoddess 6/20/2012, 5:12 pm

Good questions. I, too, would like to hear the answers now that summer is here.

I have covered my lettuce boxes with burlap over hoops but am wondering about planting new seeds...

CC

**llama momma** 6/20/2012, 5:19 pm

I recently threw 'slobolt' lettuce seeds on the surface of Mel's Mix and it sprouted and is growing well in the shade of taller plants. Temperatures here have been high 80's and pushing mid 90's.

**walshevak** 6/20/2012, 7:22 pm

Hasselback wrote:Thanks Kay, but most of our house is not air-conditioned. I'll see if I can convince my wife to let me have a couple of pots of lettuce seed in the bedroom.

Do you think that if I get them to sprout, they'll grow in the heat? I have heat-resistant varieties (Jericho and Cherokee). I just wonder if I get them to sprout, will I have plants that cannot bear to live outside.

Thanks,
G.

Well lettuce will grow in the Philippines, so it should grow in Saipan.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t5518-lettuce-will-grow-in-the-philippines

I've seen it and eaten it and it was great. But it had to be grown under shade cloth. I think it was started in a greenhouse and transplanted as I saw a lot of seedlings of something in the greenhouse.

Kay

Hasselback 6/20/2012, 7:48 pm

Agreed...It will grow here. However, I think I let this particular batch get too hot once. I'm going to give it a while longer and then start over. We'll get there.

Thanks for all of your help.

G.

CapeCoddess 6/21/2012, 1:18 pm

llama momma wrote:I recently threw 'slobolt' lettuce seeds on the surface of Mel's Mix and it sprouted and is growing well in the shade of taller plants. Temperatures here have been high 80's and pushing mid 90's.

Good to know. The plan was to plant more lettuce seeds in the shade of the cucs and beans, but they are only about 4 inches hi still. Altho, I'm expecting miraculous growth with this heat... Laughing

I'll dig out all my lettuce seeds at lunch today and see if any are heat resistant.

CC

**llama momma** 6/21/2012, 1:33 pm

Since June 8th its been mostly high 80's and into the 90's. Close to no rain at my place. Water every single morning. Today in the 90's, put burlap covers on almost everything. One tomato plant in a non sf flower garden was getting crispy without a cover so I re-watered and put burlap over and it perked right up again. Overall I am amazed at how well plants grow despite the crazy heat and 13+ hours of sunlight.

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