Mixed/Baby Salad Leaves Confusion

[veg4681]

What exactly are these or are there 2 different types? My first thoughts were that it's a mixture of lettuces/salad leaves that you would otherwise buy separately so when they grow, they have the same growing characteristics as those seeds bought separately.

Having read the contents, I decided it was cheaper way of acquiring upto 4-5
different leaf varieties but with the added inconvenience of being all mixed up.

Then there appears to be another type of new breed of leaves that are geared to be baby size yet different sorts are actually grown together tightly in a 'cress like' fashion and so these must often be the 'cut and come again'.

So am I right that there are 2 different types that one needs to be aware of:

Type 1
Salad : Niche Salad Collection

Type 2 (all uniform baby sized and works as cut n come again)
Saladisi
Nicky's Vegetable Seed Salad leaf mixtures
(gourmet lettuce mix)

If my understanding of type 2 is correct, I fancy growing them in window boxes.

[pigletwillie]

Try a packet of "mesclun", its a mix of a fair few salad leaves, chicotry, mustard leaves and the like that are harvested as cut and come again.

[Cutecumber]

Veg -

You can treat both those mixes in the same way. It's up to you to decide how to grow them. My feeling is that one is better than the other for CCA, however.

The more similar the plants in the mix (e.g. if they are all types of lettuce) the more likely you are to get an even result. If you mix lettuce and brassica, the brassicas can dominate early on and (particularly rocket) may go to seed very quickly. Some mixes seem "exotic" but may not be very practical as their growth rates are quite different (I put the "niche mixed" in this category).

The "saladisi" is probably more suited to CCA treatment of these two packets.

One of the problems with buying a mix (when they are all in the same packet) is that if they are really similar it can be impossible to identify the types. This is extremely annoying if there is one you really like and want to grow again!

[Phreddy]

I bought 2 mixes last year from 99p shop. They were bulked up with some rubbish to help thin sowing. We grew them under a plastic cover and grew well. Eaten young they were great but as they got older, not so good.
You need to grow probably a foot square and sow again 2 weeks later. The problem is steeling yourself to picking the leaves really young.
We have a ton of the stuff left.

[veg4681]

The more similar the plants in the mix (e.g. if they are all types of lettuce) the more likely you are to get an even result. If you mix lettuce and brassica, the brassicas can dominate early on and (particularly rocket) may go to seed very quickly. Some mixes seem "exotic" but may not be very practical as their growth rates are quite different (I put the "niche mixed" in this category).

The "saladisi" is probably more suited to CCA treatment of these two packets.

One of the problems with buying a mix (when they are all in the same packet) is that if they are really similar it can be impossible to identify the types. This is extremely annoying if there is one you really like and want to grow again!

CC thanks for the clarifications so I wasn't imagining anything. Some mix does appear to be cut like 'cress like' as they've been mixed to be of similar size. Apparently only the 'Saladisi' from T&M is a true C&CA.

I think once they've grown, you can identify the ones you like from the foliage and hopefully will enable you to buy the seeds separately. I don't personally like the ones with herbs in it as I tend to grow them anyway in the herb garden. I mean sorrel for god sake is a nightmare!

I bought 2 mixes last year from 99p shop. They were bulked up with some rubbish to help thin sowing. We grew them under a plastic cover and grew well. Eaten young they were great but as they got older, not so good.
You need to grow probably a foot square and sow again 2 weeks later. The problem is steeling yourself to picking the leaves really young.
We have a ton of the stuff left.

Thanks Phreddy, it doesn't surprise me that they try to pad it up with the rubbish ones (possibly rocket which I'm not keen on) in the mix , why that doesn't surprise me in the least bit. I know where you're coming from when you say it's difficult to make yourself eat them as baby size so successional sowing is crucial.