Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce


I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on.

The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;)

A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever.

I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing and it won't be warm enough to plant them out in the cold frame outside until late April or May. Most of them germinated in 4-6 days, well within the 7-10 days given on most seed packets. I have a couple of no shows - Crisp Mint and Tamburo. Crisp Mint was a bit of a dodgy prospect anyway because I opened the packet a couple of years ago. However, Tamburo was all shiny and new, so I'm currently conducting a germination test to see if I have a duff packet.


As you can see, despite being on a sunny south facing windowsill in March, my lettuces are rather leggy. However, I'm not going to throw them away and start again because we had a top tip from Alys Fowler in #saladchat on this very thing last year: just bury the stem up to the leaves when pricking out and they should come out OK in the end. That won't solve my problem of where to put them all though!

All this legginess means I've been pondering grow lights again. The pukka thing is hideously expensive, though I'm told eBay is the place to find a bargain if I go down this route. Alternatively, Antjon posted recently about a DIY solution he's rigged up for his geranium seedlings using a full-spectrum SAD lamp for around £10.

It's got me wondering whether all SAD lamps are full-spectrum and if a daylight bulb (which I have already) is the same thing. We've also been chatting on Twitter and Arabella Sock and Alex Mitchell - who already have SAD lamps - are having a go to see what happens. As we've now reached the spring equinox, I'm saving my experimentation for later in the year. I must also remember to try John Harrison's tip re using aluminium foil as a reflector to maximise available light.

How's your salad coming along? Link to your salad post's URL in Mr Linky below. BTW I've answered question 5 from last month's Salad Days: pre-soaking makes no difference to pea seed emergence rates. It does allow me to assess seed viability though, so I'll continue with this practise.

* = in the meantime, this article from the University of Illinois has lots of information.

** = they are: Black Seeded Simpson, Dazzle, Freckles, Iceberg, Little Gem, Lobjoits Cos, Lollo Rosso, Marveille de Quatre Saisons, Red Salad Bowl, Relic, Salad Bowl, and Tan Tan

*** = Note to self: must sow more thinly next time - just 1 or 2 seeds per module will do

**** = it seems it's a genetic factor, just like bean colour. This paper also says there are a few yellow seeded varieties too.

Comments

  1. Unknown22 March 2013 at 09:14

    Shame your Crisp Mint is a no show because it's a brilliant variety. I'm continuing with the blue SAD lamp on my cosmos seedlings! Not sure if it's making much difference yet, but blue spectrum light apparently promotes bushy growth so it should be better than nothing.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anna22 March 2013 at 11:09

    You will certainly have variety on your plate VP. I wonder what those seedlings will look like a month from now. Sadly nothing to report from me bar some sturdy sweet peppers and some leggy tomato seedlings. I've been away from home for three weeks of the last month looking after a poorly mum, so my sowing schedule has gone out of the window. Hoping to catch up this weekend if the snow lets up :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous22 March 2013 at 12:45

    Hi VP, I haven't got a lamp as I'm keeping my limited indoor space (and small heated propagator) for tomatoes, squash and cucumbers. I did start off some lettuces in my mini greenhouse outdoors at the beginning of March, when a few warm (ish) days fooled me into thinking spring was really upon us. I sowed Chatsworth, Ashbrook, All Year Round and Red Salad Bowl lettuces and although they've all just about germinated, it's going to be a while before I can pot them on/plant them out. Really different from last year when I sowed lettuces at the end of Feb and was eating them from mid-May onwards! Mustard leaves RedKnight Mizuna have been the fastest of all my seeds to germinate, followed by other mustards, Green in Snow and Broad Head Mizuna.
    Since then, I've sunk back into seed sowing despair (OK, lethargy then), but your post has inspired me to search through my ever increasing ridiculous amount of seeds and I shall soon get sowing Lollo Rosso, Cocarde Solix, Arctic King and Navarra lettuces, again being blindly optimistic that surely the weather has to warm up (although I do know that snow is predicted in London this weekend.)
    (I've also had no problem pricking out leggy lettuce seedlings and covering the elongated stems to get healthy plants later in the season.)
    What a strange and frustrating start to the growing season, but (still) hoping for mild days ahead and lettuces for all summer long..... Looking forward to seeing your 22 varieties!

    ReplyDelete
  4. flowerlady22 March 2013 at 15:03

    What a lot of varieties,interesting salads in your house then

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jo@awholeplotoflove22 March 2013 at 19:14

    My lettuce growing will be limited this year to mixed salad leaves & Little gems. I am for the first time trying a few varieties radicchio though.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Janet/Plantaliscious22 March 2013 at 21:44

    Top tip on burying leggy lettuce, will have to remember that one. I have some lettuces grown to small plug size lurking in the cold frame, but I can't bring myself to inflict the raised beds on them, even with a covering of fleece, when it is so blasted cold! I haven't dared get my soil thermometer out for fear I would get truly depressed. I also experimented with putting a few plugs in a soil bed in the greenhouse, but the combination of low light levels and low temperatures means they are not growing at all. Thank goodness for the mibuna and rocket which are still supplying me with leaves for sandwiches. Will try and get a post together over the weekend.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Gardeningbren22 March 2013 at 22:40

    VP....I wonder if you had just a bit of a break in the weather if you would try putting out some seeds of Marvel of Four Seasons and Black seeded Simpson in your coldframe. Barely cover them, and lay a light white fleece on top of the damp soil, and lower your lights/lid. I am not a gambling person but I really do think they will germinate and grow outdoors for you, right now. These are two hardy greens I have grown and in fact, Black seeded Simpson stayed in the ground all winter and germinate the first sign of spring and your weather is far more kind than ours here in Nova Scotia USDA 5/6. Nothing like an experiment. Loved your lettuce choices..do not know Tan Tan.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Kay Sexton23 March 2013 at 14:00

    Interesting! We do the 'bury to the leaves' thing with many seedlings that get leggy and it always works. As for lettuce, we're not huge lettuce eaters - I think perhaps we need to up our game, looking at your list of varieites!

    ReplyDelete
  9. VP23 March 2013 at 17:15

    Alex - thanks for the update :) Your comment has reminded me about a nursery I visited last year where they were using different light colour at different times in the growing period. I must look into this aspect more thoroughly!

    Anna - sorry to hear your mum has continued to be poorly :( In view of the consistent cold weather we've been having, I'm sure you'll be catching us up in no time at all.

    Outofmyshed - I've still to get round to the non-lettuce side of things! You've reminded me I need to add Cocarde to my list - I seem to remember that did really well for you last year.

    Flowerlady - that's the plan :)

    AWPOL - Radicchio's on my list too :)

    Janet - at Holt Farm on Tuesday they said their soil thermometer was reading 3 degrees :( At least the light levels are getting better all the time, even if the temperatures aren't!

    Bren - thanks for the tip. I'll certainly give that a try when we get some better weather - it's snowing today! I can use up the spare plants in that way :)

    Kay - welcome - it's turning out to be a top tip :)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Anna B23 March 2013 at 22:38

    22 varieties! Wow!! Looking forward to seeing those grow and your factsheet too. My lettuce is doing really well actually, I'll have to take some more photos, I popped one on instagram the other day. I've just sown some more seeds too. The lettuce I have now is nearly ready to eat and/or pot on to grow bigger, in fact I nibbled on a leaf the other day. I sowed that batch end of nov/dec and it struggled on through sat on my windowsill. I won't sow that late again but despite all odds it's done really well.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Liz24 March 2013 at 00:04

    22 varieties of lettuce is super impressive, I'm really looking forward to your factsheets. I have to admit being a little lax about lettuce at the moment, I need to get planting out. Where though remains a challenge....

    ReplyDelete
  12. VP24 March 2013 at 13:22

    Anna B - it should be more when I get hold of some of the other Tried and Trusted recommendations :)

    Liz - where is an ongoing challenge with this perpetual winter we're having. Fingers crossed we get our spring soon...

    ReplyDelete
  13. Helle25 March 2013 at 11:23

    Re grow lights: on the meconopsis.org site there is quite a lot about growing from seed and grow lights, and one of the experts says he just uses normal fluorescent light strips, that they work just as well as the expensive "real" grow lights.
    Good tip about planting the leggy seedlings so deep, I didn't know that, and some have gotten rather long.

    ReplyDelete
  14. VP25 March 2013 at 18:28

    Hi Helle - thanks for the tip. For me I think the fluorescent light strip will be about the same cost as a SAD lamp. I must research light colour and which kinds are best for growing indoors - I suspect there'll be all kinds of DIY options available...

    ReplyDelete
  15. Nelson27 March 2013 at 05:16

    "What a lot of varieties,interesting salads in your house then"
    Couldn't agree enough.

    ReplyDelete
  16. VP31 March 2013 at 08:33

    Nelson - thanks and welcome to Veg Plotting!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I love hearing from you and welcome thoughtful conversations :)

Comments aiming to link back and give credence to commercial websites will be composted!

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it ...
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl...
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape...
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the...
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee...
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi...
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso...
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter, ...
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener...
Read more