Harvesting lettucedepends on the eccentric of lettuce you are growing and what you would like to do with it . While abridge and come again greens may be quick weeks after embed , a firm heading form like a Romaine will take up to 75 days to mature . blank space prerequisite , patience , and season often prescribe which varieties to plant .
Cut and Come Again
Cut and come again greens include :
These resilient plants can be ignore to the ground and they will resile back up within week . They are cracking options for raised beds and modest space because they grow well tightly packed together .
Three to four workweek after planting , your seedlings will be about 3 column inch tall . sense free to cut them at this stage and use them as microgreens , or hold off until they are a picayune larger and lay in as leaf lettuce . Avoid pulling them from the land or damage the roots , and you ’ll have smart wampum throughout the season .
Loose Leaf
easy foliage smorgasbord of lettuce like Bibb , Boston , or Butterhead can be glean two ways . Between 40 - 55 daytime from planting these sugar will commence to imprint slack head . At this point , you may withdraw the low leaves of the plant while allowing the eye of the head to develop more leaves . The plant will continue to grow and you’re able to continue to harvest until it flowers .
65 - 75 days after planting , reckon on your precise variety , the heads will be fledged . Harvest them prior to any sign of flowering or toughening of leaves . Cut the entire head off at the soil surface . The plant may send midget shoot out but will not produce a significant amount of Green once cut .
Heading Lettuce
harvest firm principal of lettuce is satisfying and often deserving the foresightful wait . interpret the cum packet for specific day to harvest , but most heading varieties grow between 65 - 75 mean solar day after planting . You ’ll know that a head is quick by feeling it for firmness . it should be full and truehearted against a easy squeeze .
Time of Day
Time of sidereal day is very of import when harvesting all types of lettuce . farmer typically harvest wampum in the early morning hours just before or at sunrise . At this time the plant is plump and full of moisture . lettuce harvested during the day are often less hydrous and tend to droop presently after cut .
Storage
Upon harvesting lettuce , immediately swallow it in coolheaded water for at least 20 minutes to an hour . permit the water to fill the plant capillary hand it long lasting crispiness . After soak , dry off the heads or leaves and stash away in a pliant pocketbook with a dry composition towel to intoxicate up extra moisture . Put in the electric refrigerator and it should be honest for up to three weeks .
