this is how tough lettuce are

[Two_Sheds]

Was just thinking about how many of you are starting lettuce indoors - well, I let my plants self-seed last year, and I now have 100s of seedlings, about 3" high.

they've been outside all winter, through hail, snow, frost and gales.

I'm eating some, and leaving the others to mature. Some of them I have transplanted into a straight line, and they are doing well too.

So, don't cosset them, they are just fine outside


PS. Radish do well too ... I sowed some French Breakfast in mid-October, and they made fresh, tender snacks a couple of weeks ago.

[FionaH]

Mine are outside and doing just fine, didnt even sulk when I transplanted them last night

[Flobalob]

I have them both outdoors and inside. Inside ones are fairing better.

[zazen999]

Mine don't see indoors until they hit the sink for washing.

Ditto brassicas.

[smallblueplanet]

Any particular type of lettuce?

[sewer rat]

I grow inside and out - inside mainly because they mature slightly quicker which is important for me.

[BumbleB]

As a newbie I would have thought that lettuce was 'delicate'. But I have discovered as TS says they are very hardy. I have some in the greenhouse and others I seeded into the raised bed, these have been transplanted and are racing away.
Do they last all year or finish in Autumn?
BB

[zazen999]

bumble....I change my lettuce types to sow in autumn, and my best winter 2 are mizuna and winter butterhead. One is spicy and one isn't....but together they give a good base for salads.

Sow regularly and have ample cut and come again types.....hopefully you should never have to buy it again if you choose wisely.

[Alice]

Yes they are tough. Mine are growing in the ground and doing fine. I had to come in out of the cold so they are tougher than me.

[Growem]

Mine self-seeded as well and also fared very well over the winter. I did have a sheet of plexiglass as a sort of lean-to over them, but I don't think that did much other than keep the worst of the frosts off of them. I don't know why I didn't think to transplant some of them, what a great idea!

[crichmond]

I sprinkled a couple of packs of mixed lettuce and a couple of packs of raddish in amongst the garlic bed and they are growing great I keep eating leaves every time I am down the allotment.

The reason I put them on the garlic bed is because I reckon they will all be eaten well before the garlic is close to harvesting.

[Eyren]

Two whole packets of lettuce!

I sowed my favourite (Parris Island Cos) in modules about six weeks ago and then planted them out about a month later. The *$@%#y chickens got in and scratched some of them up, but enough have survived that I will have plenty of lettuce soon. I just pick off the outside leaves and let them grow some more...

[Two_Sheds]

Do they last all year or finish in Autumn?

I sow Rusty as a winter lettuce (but actually it just sits there all winter not growing, and is ready to eat in early spring)

This winter I tried Winter Gem from a seed-swap, and they are fab ... hearting up nicely now. I think I'll eat them next week.

[minicrank]

I grew some icebergs last summer for my other half. Because they did not come shrink wrapped in plastic, he was not enthusiastic, and so two plants were left outside in my North facing garden all winter. I intend to pick and eat them this week because I want the space

[BumbleB]

bumble....I change my lettuce types to sow in autumn, and my best winter 2 are mizuna and winter butterhead. One is spicy and one isn't....but together they give a good base for salads.

Sow regularly and have ample cut and come again types.....hopefully you should never have to buy it again if you choose wisely.

Thanks Zazen, another excuse to browse the seed pkts