Green troubles

[curly_kate]

I am growing black seeded simpson lettuce, and picked some today for a salad. It is BITTER! I had this trouble last year, but I figured it was because it was so hot. It has been warm this spring, but nothing above 80* so far. It's also been pretty dry. Could that be the culprit?

Also, I'm growing oriental greens, which were the free seeds I got from Baker Creek. They have bunches of little tiny holes in them. Any thoughts about what might cause that? They are in the same bed as the lettuce, and so they have the same conditions as the lettuce.

 

[patandchickens]

Yup, dry makes lettuce bitter. Even just letting it seriously dry out *once* can ruin it for good. For a small crop of lettuce, I think there is a LOT to be said for self-watering planters as opposed to planting in the ground

Teensy tiny holes in bean leaves, like someone filled a shotgun shell with sand and fired it at them, are usually flea beetles. Typically beans (etc) can actually withstand a considerable amount of flea-beetle damage without meaningful harm to your crop. Which is good b/c they are pretty darn hard to do anything about, short of a long-term floating row cover.

Good luck, have fun,

Pat

 

[curly_kate]

Thanks! I think I'll just need to grow lettuce in a container closer to my house. I hate dragging the hose all the way out to the garden for just the raised bed, so it tends to get drier than it should. :/

 

[Greenthumb18]

curlykate,
Try putting the lettuce in the fridge for awhile, usually once the leaves cool down in their it helps some with the bitterness.