Lettuce - is it too late?

hitchhiker90 3/25/2019, 9:16 pm

Hi All,

It's been a while since I last posted on here and giving SFG another try however I'm a little confused on the spring planting season. I was wanting to plant some lettuce and thought I was getting in early on it but after some research the information I read said I should have started it indoors a few weeks ago. The last frost date for my area is April 11th. This is where I need some help. Is it too late to plant lettuce and maybe some other spring crops in the SFG from seed? And if its not too late, should I do it now or do I wait until after the last spring frost on April 11th? Any help and assistance is greatly appreciated.

**sanderson** 3/26/2019, 4:10 am

Hi, Hitchhiker, happy hi

I hope someone from your area can help you. It's past the last frost date here in Central California. I'm hoping to plant some Four Season lettuce. However, it's 80*F during the day so I don't know how well it will germinated. All leaf lettuces do great here in the winter. Maybe you can buy some 6-packs as back ups?

Mikesgardn 3/26/2019, 9:16 pm

Lettuce can be planted outside before your average last frost. Here in Maryland, I plant lettuce outside around March 15. So plant outside now! Our spring season is very short, and lettuce does not do well in the heat. So I recommend that you plant the lettuce very dense, 9 per square foot, and harvest the leave early before it gets too hot.

Mikesgardn 3/26/2019, 9:26 pm

Most states have planting guides for vegetable gardeners. This is a good guide for eastern NC.
https://pender.ces.ncsu.edu/files/library/71/VegPlantingGuide.pdf

hitchhiker90 3/29/2019, 8:49 pm

Thanks Sanderson.

Thanks Mikesgardn. I should have checked with NCSU first since they are big agricultural school not far from me. I'm going to finish up the second SFG tomorrow morning and start planting.

hitchhiker90 5/11/2019, 10:39 pm

How do you know when its time to harvest? I planted some lettuce on 4/2/2019 and much to my surprise 2 of the 4 varieties I planted actually grew. In one picture it has romaine lettuce which still looks a little small and the package says it takes 68 days to harvest so I'm ok with letting that go even though it does look like I can harvest it now.

The other is looseleaf lettuce which is starting to outgrow my square foot and getting a little large. The package says to harvest in 45 days which would be May 17. Should I wait until then or can I pick it now? Are there any hard rules to go by for harvesting your crops?

Thanks in advance.

**AtlantaMarie** 5/12/2019, 5:51 am

Start picking the outer leaves & enjoy! They look great!!

MrBooker 5/13/2019, 5:05 pm

sanderson wrote:Hi, Hitchhiker, I hope someone from your area can help you. It's past the last frost date here in Central California. I'm hoping to plant some Four Season lettuce. However, it's 80*F during the day so I don't know how well it will germinated. All leaf lettuces do great here in the winter. Maybe you can buy some 6-packs as back ups?

Sanderson, I agree. Buy some 6 packs (or a couple 12 packs) drink'em all up and don't worry about the lettuce.... Lettuce - is it too late? 3170584802

"hiccup, belch, burp, and fart". Scuze me pleeze. rofl

MrBooker 5/13/2019, 5:15 pm

hitchhiker90 wrote:How do you know when its time to harvest? I planted some lettuce on 4/2/2019 and much to my surprise 2 of the 4 varieties I planted actually grew. In one picture it has romaine lettuce which still looks a little small and the package says it takes 68 days to harvest so I'm ok with letting that go even though it does look like I can harvest it now.

The other is looseleaf lettuce which is starting to outgrow my square foot and getting a little large. The package says to harvest in 45 days which would be May 17. Should I wait until then or can I pick it now? Are there any hard rules to go by for harvesting your crops?

Thanks in advance.

IMHO: Their are no hard rules on when to harvest. Things like Lettuce, Radish, Scallions, peas and green beans and other veggies, I just harvest when I need need to.

Mikesgardn 5/13/2019, 7:20 pm

Start harvesting the outer leaves now before it gets too hot! Lettuce gets bitter when the weather gets hot. That is why I recommend planting the lettuce very dense (9 per SF) in springtime in the south, and harvest them early.

hitchhiker90 5/13/2019, 10:50 pm

I ended up picking the outer leaves as suggested and used them on some sandwiches as a condiment. Will probably pick a few more and make a small side salad.

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