April 2010
May 2010How do you know your butterhead lettuce is ready to harvest? I started these from seed in early March, transplanted them in early April, and now it's May. It looks like lettuce but not the lettuce I see at the store that has more leaves, the head is fuller. Are mine not ready or is homegrown lettuce different than what you find in the store?
Homegrown produce is often smaller with a richer colour because it is not from a hybrid variety (GMO) that has been bred to be enormous with a an extended shelf life. Start pruning it so it will produce more leaves, I find that the first growth on any of my plants will often be kind of small and spindly. Pruning is key!
ReplyDeleteOf course! (I'm posting here, but thanks for stopping by the blog!) I'm still a fairly novice gardener but I definitely believe in sharing my (limited) knowledge. I've been pruning our little head of arugala to inspire it to grow. I don't know if I mentioned it but you can always add a sprinkle of used coffee grounds to the soil to promote the nitrogen.
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