What's wrong with my little gem lettuce??

[Messi1986]

Hi. My lettuce are putting out side shoots I think or new heads. Are these.ok or destination for the bin? Thanks

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Messy! They are showing signs of "Duress" & getting ready to "Bolt"

Harvest them now, or sometime very soon, they are perfectly fine to eat! ..........

Very nice looking lettuce I might add!

[Martin H]

I would harvest the middle piece by cutting cleanly across the stem, leaving the side shoots to grow bigger and provide some more leaves later on.

[Potstubsdustbins]

Wish my lettuce looked half as good..............

[Messi1986]

Thanks for replys. Im happy with that. Now I'll harvest them tomorrow. Only three of them look like this. You learn new things every day. Thanks

[Bren In Pots]

A lot of my lettuce is starting to bolt, but so long as it tastes OK I keep on eating it.

[Llevrah]

Messy! They are showing signs of "Duress" & getting ready to "Bolt"

Harvest them now, or sometime very soon, they are perfectly fine to eat! ..........

Very nice looking lettuce I might add!

What are the signs it's getting ready to bolt please? Is it when it starts growing sideshows or is there something else?
We eat looooaaaads of it in the NICE weather it goes with everything especially when it's too hot to cook so I planted lots and now we are eating it but not as we would usually be doing at this time of the year. Around 25 ready and a good 20 ready to plant out sat in the tunnel.
I have cos lettuce if this makes a difference to the signs

[Deano's "Diggin It"]

Hi Llevrah

It's when it either starts putting out side-shoots or it starts to push up a central column of growth, it is best at this point to harvest as soon as possible, as it is still edible, but the longer it is left, the leaves start to taste a little bitter.

[Llevrah]

Hi Llevrah

It's when it either starts putting out side-shoots or it starts to push up a central column of growth, it is best at this point to harvest as soon as possible, as it is still edible, but the longer it is left, the leaves start to taste a little bitter.

Thank you. Knew about the centre just wasn't sure about any other signs so I could catch it before it really went. Had a rummage, look and feel around each of them today. So far so good but not a surprise it's pretty cool down her atm