Leaf Lettuce - direct sowing or transplant?

[cookiesdaddy]

I bought a combo seed pack of 7 different leafy lettuces online. I planted them in 7 small rows about 2 months ago, in a new raised bed. 6 of them came out OK but not great. I think because the plants are too close together. A friend of mine mentioned that she planted all lettuces indoor and then transplant them when the seedlings are still real tiny, like just a couple of small leaves, and a long white root branch. She'd just pull the seedling and plant it into the ground, and the proper distance. She said she conserved seed this way and the lettuce will transplant like that no problem.

I wonder how many here grow indoor and transplant like that? Or do you sow directly into the ground? What are the pros and cons of each method?

 

[Hattie the Hen]

I have found that if you have a spell of hot weather after transplanting the lettuce it will run to seed almost immediately, where as sown direct seed will not.

Because it's hard to tell what the weather will do I do both. I direct sow several different varieties as catch crops between other larger veg in my raised beds & also sow decorative bowls of lettuce or mixed saladings indoors or in the little greenhouse. This way I KNOW I will have something as salad. Often I transplant some of these into the raised beds -- Especially if they are "Cos" varieties because there is nothing like them -- my absolute favourite(I think you call them something else in the US but I can't think what it is, SORRY......!!).

Hope this helps! :happy_flower


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[Reinbeau]

Hattie, I think we have Cos lettuces here, too, but it's usually called Romaine.

I grow mine from transplants, but I transplant them out very, very small. I have problems germinating lettuce in the garden, so I don't direct seed. I haven't had any problem with them bolting faster, maybe it's because they are tiny when I plant them out.

 

[lesa]

I put seeds in the ground very early- as soon as soil can be worked. It germinates, real well, depending on the weather. A little frost does not bother it...Just had our first real salad with it last night. I love harvesting food for dinner! Never transplanted.

 

[digitS']

'Daddy, I do both.

Direct seeding works fine here - except as we get farther into the dry heat of Summer. Containers can be a little more protected from too much direct sun in the yard - and then transplanted out.

I like to use containers where I can tear little groups of plants out, rather than individual cells. That way, there's a little more control of how many plants end up in each planting hole.

And, they can be more or less, spaced easily in the open ground. In other words, 3 or 4 lettuce plants can be placed fairly close together and 6 plants can have a little more room around them.

Really, leaf lettuce can grow that closely together. They will never make very large plants because they will be harvested first. Only Hattie's Cos/Romaine will stand awhile (perhaps) for cut-and-come-again harvest.

In while tiny/out while tender . . . that's my plan for lettuce transplants .

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

I always direct sow so I can't offer anything about transplanting. There is a trick that I've seen Hattie mention and I saw my father use for small seeds, which is mixing the seeds with sand to get a more even spread of the seeds. I still usually get them too thick and have to thin. You could call those baby greens but I usually wind up thinning more than I can eat. Chickens love them.

You can also use the planting strip method which is another currently active thread on here.

The problem I have is not with them bolting but with them getting bitter with the hot weather. Partial shade can help and I use the "heatwave" blend from Burpee. This seems to extend the harvest a couple of weeks into the hot weather.

Good luck!

 

[patandchickens]

I bought a combo seed pack of 7 different leafy lettuces online. I planted them in 7 small rows about 2 months ago, in a new raised bed. 6 of them came out OK but not great. I think because the plants are too close together.

If you thin them, they would no longer be too close together and they'd grow better Plants growing far enough apart can actually be transplanted elsewhere rather than killed, when thinning.

I start mine indoors because it is a lot easier (to me) than direct sowing and then making sure the darn things are coddled thru to germination; BUT in a hot summer climate, which I have lived in but don't right now, direct-sowing may work better in terms of delaying bolting. I don't know from personal experience; I just didn't grow summer lettuce when I lived in NC

Pat

 

[me&thegals]

I plant my lettuce the way you see old-time pictures of women feeding scratch to their chickens This year, it was followed by a lot of rain, which washed the seeds into clumps. Those clumps of plants I broke up a bit and transplanted into bare patches. Both direct and transplanted worked well. I've never had a problem with lettuce germinating where I am. Keeping it moist at first seems to do the trick. I also have no problem with it growing thickly. It simply grows up taller and thinner rather than bushing out. Then, I cut out swaths of the overpopulated stuff and give the rest more room to bush out.

 

[kathyschix]

It's funny but some of my best lettuce this year came up itself from lettuce that I allowed to bolt and go to seed last year.

Regards,

Kathy

 

[cookiesdaddy]

Thank you everyone for your response! Very helpful. This forum is amazing!