Table of Content
Loose leaf lettuce in growing stageThe taste of lettuce is very sensitive to when you harvest it. A little late and all you’ll get is bitter tasting leaves. Hence its okay to be on the safer side and harvest your lettuce a little before time than otherwise. Just leave the bigger leaves on the sides and the younger leaves too.
The use of Iceberg lettuce is common as compared to other types because of its crisp, texture and has almost zero calories. To keep the lettuce leaves fresh and crispy, wash them just before use so they don’t go limp. Over the years, I’ve gained a lot of knowledge about growing your own food at home.
About Urja Seeds
If there's standing water on top of the soil, the seeds could rot. Its mild flavor also makes room for plenty of salad toppings to shine, such as fresh-cut tomatoes, hard-boiled eggs, various cheeses, nuts, seeds, and more. Iceberg Lettuce is often called Crisphead due to its snappy texture and full-head form.
Apply the fertilizer at least once a week for 3-4 weeks. If transplanting, the best time to move iceberg lettuce plants outside is when they reach inches ( centimetres) tall or have at least true leaves. Lettuce seeds can be saved for the next season.As we grow for our own consumption and sharing with our friends and neighbors we harvest lettuce exactly when we need them. For example if we are making a salad, then we get everything ready and just before tossing everything together we go to our garden and get the required amount of leaves. It is best to harvest lettuce just before you are going to eat them as the fresher the leaves the better the taste. And by the way, this is the best part when you grow lettuce at home; You cant get them any fresher.
Harvesting of Iceberg Lettuce
The goal is to keep the lettuce cool and moist; dried out lettuce may develop a bitter taste or rot. If the surface of the soil looks dry, it hasn't been watered enough. Pull the outer leaves off the lettuce seedlings before you transfer them. This will make the plants lighter so their growing roots can support them in the ground more easily. Leave the sprouts at the center of the plants intact; they will go on to form the lettuce heads.
Fill in the holes with soil and gently pack down the soil around the base of the plants with your hands. It must be stored and consumed properly to avoid these issues. Mix your ingredients in a bottle and spritz liberally onto your plants and onto any gatherings of aphids you find.
How to Grow Iceberg Lettuce
Iceberg lettuce, or Crisphead, is head lettuce and is the most popular type of lettuce in America from the lettuce varieties list. Its light and crisp texture makes filling a salad bowl alongside greens like arugula an excellent choice. The ease at which it grows makes it a favorite for home growers. Learning how to grow iceberg lettuce is simple as it grows almost anywhere as long as the temperature isn’t too humid or frigid. As mentioned earlier it will be good with organic growing medium.
Keep in view the timing that the central stem has just started its formation. This will give enough space to the other remaining plant. Besides ease of access, the pot selection is very easy. Select the clay pot which will help in the evaporation of excess moisture and will keep the ideal state. Simply you have to ponder how much you want to grow. Because the distance between the plants is a minimum of 12 inches to maintain.
How Much Water do Iceberg Lettuce Need
Since then, it’s become one of, if not the most popular lettuce, gracing restaurants and dinner tables all over with its crunchy texture. If your lettuce leaves have developed a bitter taste, you can keep them in the refrigerator for a day to rid them of the bitterness. However, if you still want to store lettuce leaves, wrap them in a dry newspaper or paper towels and store them in the freezer. If you can’t harvest in the morning, you can always do it in the evening as well.
If lettuce gets water stressed then it may not recover. Hence take care not to let the soil dry up anytime. As lettuce is shallow rooted the top part of the soil needs to be moist. You need to water your lettuce plant twice a day at least. Few of my first lettuce plants got water stressed as I was watering them only once in a day.
But later when I tried to germinate the same seeds in November they germinated in 5-6 days. Temperature plays a very important role in germination of any seed and for lettuce temperature has to be lower. Ideally if the temperature is below 20°C germination rate is good.
Moreover, its seeds are easy to get, easy to preserve, and easy to continue growing. You have to decide between the choices of leaves which to opt. They are microgreens which are small leaves within 2 weeks of germination. Keep eye on the moisture and keep watering the plants to grow effectively. The use of fertilizers can help in fast growth especially organic fertilizer like fish emulsion or others. Careful maintenance is very important for iceberg lettuce to grow.
No comments:
Post a Comment