What is the best BLT lettuce?

[lowlylowlycook]

I'm new to gardening and haven't yet tried to grow any lettuce but I gather that it's hard to grow decent lettuce in the hot months when you're getting all those tomatoes. I'm thinking of planting some in containers so I could move it to a shadier spot in hot weather but I don't know how well that would work.

Anyone have luck growing lettuce in the summer? Any good varieties or good methods?

[kath]

Have been working on finding a good 'summer' lettuce because it will bolt normally way before we get our 1st ripe tomato here unless it's a really cool spring. I've found that Chartwell romaine, Winter Density (believe it or not!) and Canasta have held up longer in summer than about 2 dozen others that I've tried over the years. They do best if planted in the shade of taller plants or with the use of "shade cloth" suspended over it.
It helps to keep the soil evenly moist and mulched. Ice cubes around them or misting, etc. in heat waves can help...they just really like it cool. Keep planting every couple weeks, too, and don't let the plants get too old. Some people keep starting plants indoors and set plants out in open areas, but I just sow seed outside where it's shady especially in the afternoon and keep the soil moist and have pretty good luck now.

[ddsack]

A couple of summer lettuces that do well for me here, are Summertime (heh!) and batavia types Nevada and Sierra, which aren't as easy to find as they used to be, but SandHill carries Nevada. Romaine also works. We normally don't get too many extended days over 85 so I can keep lettuce going if I plan my successive seeding wisely. I do have some beds that get some partial and mottled shade which I use more in high summer. The key to non-bitter lettuce is fast growth, which means lots of watering and some kind of fertilizer or good ground prep. There are so many kinds of lettuce to experiment with that next to tomatoes and peppers, it's my favorite veggie for trials.

I often start seed in flats, and transplant into the garden so that I can get better germination and spacing for the plants. But lettuce also transplants easily, so you can just dump seed in the garden and thin and transplant later.


Summertime is a loose head type which has a crispy texture when heads get near mature. All I could find quickly is this picture of very young plants from a couple of years ago.

[salix]

Our favourite lettuce is an open pollinated variety called "Drunken Woman". Originally bought it because, well, it just has a certain ring to it. It is a large, loosely headed red-speckled variety - it does well in ground as well as in containers. I keep a few heads growing in pots on the back deck just for making sandwiches.

Like DD, I usually start about 9 seeds in a 4 inch pot, then plant out the seedlings. Do a new pot every couple of weeks, and you'll be rolling in salad! Any small plants still in the garden at clean-up time in the fall I just leave in place. Rarely, conditions are such (even with -40 C winter temps) that some will winter over nicely and provide such a great head start in the spring.

P. S. If you would like to try the DW lettuce, I can send you some seeds.

[mdvpc]

Jericho is an Israeli romaine that I am trying this summer in a hydroponic unit. My seed source is Seeds of Change. I plant much more close together than is recommended.

Jericho Lettuce




Jericho Lettuce
Lactuca sativa
14-16 in. head height.
Hardy Annual

Bred for the hot desert of Israel, this robust, bolt-resistant variety stays sweet and crisp in hot weather. Holds up the best in summer heat of all varieties trialed in New Mexico research farm. Very large, medium green, dense 14-16" heads are great for packing. (avg. 26,000 seeds/oz.)


Planting Depth: Just cover
Soil Temp. for Germ.: 60-70°F
Days to Germ.: 5-10
Avg. Spacing: 4-10 seeds/ft. in rows 12-24 in. apart
Avg. Seeding Rate: full heads 1/4-1/2 lb./acre, baby heads 1/2-3/4 lb/acre. Days to Maturity: 60-65
Partial Shade/Full Sun
Moderate Water

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by lowlylowlycook

I'm new to gardening and haven't yet tried to grow any lettuce but I gather that it's hard to grow decent lettuce in the hot months when you're getting all those tomatoes. I'm thinking of planting some in containers so I could move it to a shadier spot in hot weather but I don't know how well that would work.

Anyone have luck growing lettuce in the summer? Any good varieties or good methods?

No luck with summer lettuce, here.

Therefore, I opt for a BNZST rather than a BLT.

Tormato

[lowlylowlycook]

NZS= New Zealand Spinach?

[mdvpc]

Lowly:

Forgot to post that growing lettuces in some shade should work for you. During the winter, I grow in my greenhouse with the plants on the floor on the non-sunny side and they do well. You won't know till you try it.

[Tormato]

Originally Posted by lowlylowlycook

NZS= New Zealand Spinach?

Bingo, LL Cook.