OK I have more really good info on the two spotted lettuce. speckles amish butterhead and Forellenschluss or Speckled Trout. They are described in very good detail and compared in the 2nd one on the page.

view page 46 of the Fedco Catalog.

speckles amish butterhead

Forellenschluss at bottom with comparison.

I might add that Speckled Trout is the #1 seed seller at Seed Savers Exchange. It is also proclaimed to be the best tasting lettuce.

Both of these lettuce can be obtained at Fedco for only $1 each for a full gram or 800 seeds. Burpee seeds sell for several dollars for 500 seeds at most and sometimes less.

Hot Tomato

I assume the seeds were from Pinetree. Looking at the list I can only make a few guesses.

Arugula gets hot. it has long thin wavy leaves. a bit similar to the leaves on red salad bowl. It will be a bit more mild in cold weather. It gets too hot for me to bother although I like it and grow it. It might work better in cooking when it gets so hot. might try in a boiled soup.

The blue color sort of sometimes appears in Kale. Kale can also have a wavy edge and a heavy strong thick leaf. The blue is usually a hazy blue not a strong blue. But I have not seen them all. If you have a strong blue that would be great. In any case I hope you are successful in making seeds. If I grew it out I could say more about it.

Another trick is to separate out your mix and identify each item and save seeds. One thing that will help you is the size shape and color of the seeds. So you might want to separate the seeds a little first. Make a description and then grow them out and identify them.

Arugula seeds are sort of black with red tints. very small round balls. but not super small.

endive has thin sort of rods. I have them white with some color added but mostly white. dont know if they are all the same color. I have the frizze endive.

I consider both of your packs of seeds to be easy to identify if you want to do that.

note the color of the lettuce see as white or black. I should be able to give you all the colors when I get my seeds. I have some colors now.

My salad today used Jericho, Nevada, New Red Fire and Thompson Broccoli and Mizuna from the garden. Super salad. Still have to purchase tomatoes cucs peppers etc.

I added a big leaf of the Thompson Broccoli. Delicious. Worth growing for the big leaves. But I also threw in a big head of broccoli, raw only.

I think my tasty lettuce must be "red kale". that makes the most sense even if it's really more a blue color. There's only the one-I took pics so once they're developed I'll post. It only has two or three leaves left now-I have been eating it and paring away the flea bitten ones.
I cut down my spicy lettuce but I took pics first so i could share here. Not one I cared to save seeds from! maybe it's a rogue mustard that slipped in the pack. But holy cow it was a hot sonofagun.
I forgot-I also have quite a few buttercrunches. Love 'em!

Can anyone recommend a good leafy lettuce to me? I like the taste of Romaine, but the stem in the middle is a little to tough for me to use Romain for wrapping. The leaf lettuce at the grocery stores work well, but they just don't have any taste.

Thanks.

Some of my favorite salad greens this year:

Kale - Blue Scotch (Agway); Dinosaur / Tuscan / Lacinato (Seeds of Change); Red Russian (Seeds of Change)
Chard - Argentata (Fedco)
Radicchio - Rouge de Verone (Page's Seeds); Variegata di Castelfranco (Pinetree)
Sorrel (Richter's)

All of them have taken the heat very well. I started most of them indoors and they were quite large soon after planting out in April. My arugula bolted quickly but the flowers are still flavoring salads.

Salad burnet is a very nice early-season cucumber substitute. Tarragon is a great salad herb and grows great in cool climates. I also love adding chives, which peaked a few weeks ago, and hardneck garlic scapes, which are coming out right now.

Hey alright.. I've been waiting for just such a topic to come up so I can talk about my garden lettuce. (Yeah.. I realize I can talk about my lettuce anytime here but I'm going to hijack this thread because it looks like we've got an all-star lettuce expert crowd here today!)

Having said that, I had to run out to my garden to snap a few pics and see what the experts can figure out here.

First, some background; I started my raised garden bed project towards the end of March. I've created about 6 beds with 2x10 lumber which are set into my lawn. I've worked the soil below about 10" and we've got about 10" up top, having added mixed compost, mushroom manure, sand soil.. all sorts of good stuff, about 20" super soft and well worked soil.

Now, just so you don't have to visualize that.. it looks like this;

{{gwi:72193}}

The first bed was finished on April 7th. Wanting to get a jump on the season (actually, more like not knowing at all when one should seed) we sowed seeds for Radish, Spinach, Kohlrabi, Turnip, Iceburg Lettuce, a Lettuce Blend, Brocolli, Suey Choi & Red Cabbage on April 11th.

About 10-14 days later, the radish was well up and everything else was beginning to poke it's head up through the soil.

Fast forward to today.

The entire bed looks like this today;

{{gwi:72194}}

We've harvested a number of tasty radishes, and are patiently waiting for more tender morsels to be ready.

Now, looking at that picture you can see the almost non existant section in the middle - let's focus there;

{{gwi:72195}}

That's right.. it's the lettuce! Now.. correct me if Im wrong.. Im mostly new to this. Seeds sown on April 11th - it's now June 15th, that's a little over two months now - shouldn't things be moving on a tad quicker here?

Here's a look at the individual lettuces;

An unknown red from the blend pack;
{{gwi:72196}}

Some of the blend pack grouped together;
{{gwi:72197}}

A sideshot ofsome unknown green
{{gwi:72198}}

Some more unknown greens
{{gwi:72199}}

An unknown red and green (are you seeing a pattern here?)
{{gwi:72200}}

And finally, an iceberg.
{{gwi:72201}}

To give you a sense of scale here - here's my finger against an unknown red;
{{gwi:72202}}

I was recently out on a stroll through the local community gardens and noticed their lettuces were monstrous.. like.. truly greens of great proportions.

What gives?! Did we start the lettuce too early?

As an aside.. I've numbered the smaller pictures - if anyone can identify them, that'd be great!! (they came in a generic "blend pack").

now please, won't you kind lettuce experts speak! :)

Thanks!!

Here is a link that might be useful: Eso's Garden

koreyk, thanks so much for mentioning Fedco Seeds. I'd never heard of them. They look great. The prices there really allow for some experimenting with different varieties. And they have the Speckles Amish Butterhead I've been wondering about! Wonderful.

esobofh, I can't help you with your tiny lettuces, but your raised beds look beautiful!

For a great variety of oriental vegetable seeds check out Evergreen Oriental Seeds. Tom

Here is a link that might be useful: Asian Vegetable Seeds

Everyone is always free to hijack this thread. The more hijacking the better. Your pictures are great. I must learn how to do that. First let me see if I can get some pictures.

The ruffled red might be a New Red Fire. But it will take more time to tell. Who filled the pack. No info at all on the strains and I will not purchase it. Many companies list the strain names. But I find they cheat a little bit. or they pick up some stray seed. They use the blends for spilled seed. Acidently spilled some seed well throw it into the blend.

Something is wrong. Your lettuce is much too small. However, I start all my seeds including lettuce in cell packs. Mostly 72 per tray in the best postting soil that does not have fertilizer added. Then I move them up to 18 cells per tray in compost. then I move them to the garden. when moving from the 72 to 18 they must be split down to 1 plant per cell in tray of 18. one lettuce will get bigger than 2 together in some ways.

You definitely had big problems with germination of the lettuce. I get almost 100% germination. one seed gives one plant. a package goes a super long way. 1 gram pack has 800 seeds should give over 400 plants. I am thinking 2 seeds per cell. and spliting them. I am going now to one seed per cell and adding a seed if one does not come up.

The last seeds I germinated I put one seed per cell. wet it down good. Put a dome on the tray and put into a room in the house. couple of days later I took it outside and you MUST take the dome off. the seeds were coming up and into the hot sun and off she grows. Some growth and into the 18 cell trays.

My trays are a bit complex set up. we can talk about it later. regular setup is fine.

when there is some growth in the 18 cells then off to the garden. I keep them in the cells because they are small and I can give them protection especially from cut worms.

I just thought of that. Cut worms can and will do what you see in the lettuce garden. Actually cut worms can get 100% of all the lettuce.

My first year I put the plants out and soon there were only 1 % left in the garden. So I went out at night with a flashlight and saw all the caterpillars eating the lettuce. It was gourmet lettuce for the cut worms.

If I put them out when the plants are bigger they do not chomp on them so much. Also I learned to go out at night with a maglight and hand pick them. the begin right as the sun goes down and chomp all night. You need to do that for about a week. but go out 10 times the first day. More on that later.

Right now I am eating super salad for breakfast while typing in this posting.

KoreyK
The Lettuce Addict

@KoreyK

Try SUCRINE....I think you will like it.

Koreyk - Thansk so much for the informative response. I knew something had to be wrong here. The lettuce as you see it, as how we planted it actually - i was really thinking they were going to get huge so I wanted space in between. so we put a hole down about a cm in the positions you see and deposited about 3-5 seeds. The intention was to thin them after the fact, but they were so small we just kinda let them go as is.

So.. this crop is a bust. If I till them in, can I seed another batch or is it too late?

Well you can seed now. However, best not to try winter or spring types now. You really only want to try those that can take the heat. I would check some catalogs to see what they recommend.

But good recommendations would include

Jericho
Nevada
Magenta
Asian Greens
Mizuna
beet greens
swiss chard is big in the summer.

and read the old thread on good salad greens for the desert. They substitute for things other than lettuce. But I think if you pick things early and put in the shade you should be able to have real lettuce all summer long.

I ate some Fun Jen ( Fedco ) today and it was very nice like they say. mild like lettuce but a hint of flavor. Has a little bite to it. It was pleasant.

My favorite as I said before is Mizuna. I do not really thin it. I let it grow and cut it off like a hair cut or grass. I cut a good inch above ground and it all grows back. You can get 4 to 5 crops a summer this way. It will not go to seed because it is biannual. seeds in the 2nd year. unless you put it out in the cold spring then you can force seed in the first year as the plant will think it is the 2nd year.

I would go over the info in Fedco catalog. They give longer descriptions then some other companies. I suspect they picked many to go through the hot summers.

Anyone have any suggestions??? Let us hear from everyone. Do not be bashful. We all gain when we all share. I do not remember what advice was in the old thread. Maybe someone can give a summary on the advice.

I will make a confession. I grew many lettuce last summer and when they all wilted bad I moved the pots into the shade. Worked like a charm. Then when it got cool I moved them back into the sunshine. So I kept lettuce going all summer last year. All the leaf lettuce and the buttercrunch made it. I lost NO LETTUCE. none. But then I am home all day and watch everything closely all day long every day.

My only sort of failure was the rocket arugula which got bitter and went to seed. But that is what I always expect from arugula.

Mizuna likes alot of water in the heat. it tends to wimp out and come back over night. But it wimps out in the hot sunshine.

Does anyone have good suggestions on Salad Dressing. We should discuss good salad dressings. I have some ideas there.

Hi! So I'm not the only one that would and sometimes actually *does* eat lettuce for breakfast?!? I must show your post to my husband! Lol!

I've got some lettuces in the ground (not doing so well), and others in containers (doing better), others growing in trays, some chard, arugula, etc. Anyone growing mache? That's my real favorite green. There are some seedlings that sprouted in the ground not in a 100%, and seeds soaking right now. For cooler weather will use the small seeded type in raised beds.

About dressings, here are some:
- 1Tbs. Mayo, 1Tbsp. Cream (or yoghurt, or white cheese), 1 coffee size spoon Tomato pure. Mix well and add over a salad already dressed with some olive oil. Goes with salads where you have added red pepper and/or tomatoes.

- 1 parts lemon juice, 1 part mayo, 2 parts yoghurt w/o flavor, mild mustard to taste (not too much) Very versatile, and ideal for plain lettuce.

- 1 part Walnut oil, 1 part lemon juice. Suitable in a salad where you have added cubes of feta cheese and pine seeds or pieces of walnuts. All this over mache, is my favorite own recipe of a salad.

Carol

My salad dressings:

The standard one:

Olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a little mustard, a little dried oregano, salt, pepper, and a dash of sugar. (I never actually measure anything.)

With some things:

Canola oil, a dash of sesame oil, rice wine vinegar, a little salt and pepper, and some powdered ginger.

With Greek Salads (generally greens, cukes, tomatoes, feta, and kalamata olives):

Olive oil, red wine vinegar, pepper, oregano.

I need to get more creative or thoughtful with salad dressings. Mostly I'm just lazy and make my standard dressing over and over. I suppose if I were a true foodie I would adjust the dressing depending on what's in the salad, to compensate or bring out certain flavors. Don't have time or energy or knowledge for that. I don't put much dressing on a salad anyway. Usually the greens and other things take care of themselves.

Are there any quick and easy rules for what kind of dressing is best with what kind of salad?

Some years ago I sometimes added things like walnuts, diced apple, and cheese to salads. Quite tasty. Haven't done that in a while.

This week's salad dressing:
balsamic vinegar. Dash of salt. One half inch of yellow and black striped green caterpillar.
yep. Ate half of the little fella before i spied him.
Almost a disappointment-you'd expect something so colorful to be very exoticly flavored, but he was more a texture than a flavor.

Well this looks excellent. A good trial of 50 varieties for summer lettuce. what does everyone think of this trial.

quote
there are growers that successfully produce lettuce throughout the summer months. While good production in the summer months requires special attention to production techniques, some varieties of lettuce resist bolting better than others. In this initial study, 50 varieties have been planted every two weeks, starting in June, and ending in September to evaluate variety responses

http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.specialtycrops.colostate.edu/images/scp_exp_demo_pics/lettuce/lettuce_grand_salad.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.specialtycrops.colostate.edu/scp_exp_demo/lettuce_bolting.htm&h=122&w=288&sz=39&hl=en&start=4&um=1&tbnid=pRZ601oIp0QhiM:&tbnh=49&tbnw=115&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dgrand%2Brapids%2Blettuce%2B%26svnum%3D10%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den

WOW Great Web site on lettuce.

here is a shorter url to the same spot.

http://www.specialtycrops.colostate.edu/scp_exp_demo/lettuce_bolting.htm

Shows the Batavia as the best to grow in the heat.

here were the conclusions:

The Batavian lettuce varieties outperformed the other varieties of lettuce by far. They did not bolt all season long, even in the warmest days. They are flavorful and have uniform growth. They are longer maturing than the leaf lettuces, but they can be harvested at different stages. Overall they are a versatile and good performing lettuce, and are highly recommended for Colorado growers.

The Butter varieties also performed well. The Red Romaines failed to produce a head but are good for individual leaf harvest and baby lettuce production.

However, you must read the descriptions on each variety. Great study they did a wonderful job. I am going to get more Batavia types. I want the new Magenta from JSS.

Let me say that I planted the Jericho and Nevada on Feb 15 indoors. The Jericho are now huge and 4 full months old and NOT BOLTING. I have eaten much of the outer leaves and no bolting. They do not even look like they are thinking of bolting.

I planted the Nevada the same day and no bolting. They are a smaller lettuce than Jericho but a good big lettuce none the less. They are just sitting there. This is a great lettuce. The Magenta is similar to the Nevada but has some nice red color added. JSS has the seeds. Magenta came out after the colorado study we are reading.

So for those who want to plant lettuce NOW. I suggest you read this study.

Carol 71

Tell your husband I am coming to Netherland and I want some of those salads you make with your home made dressings. You are some great lady. Your hubby is one lucky guy.

iacche

Your dressings sound great also.

Here is something I do. I like to add some hot pepper flavor. Of course I grow more than a hundred hot peppers also. haha. Anyway for breakfast I needed a quick fix. So I put blue cheese dressing into some hot vinegar from my Jalapeno slices. This thins down the blue cheese but gives the flavor. it spreads around and covers the lettuce better. I did this because last week I was using Balsamic with Jalapeno slices and my bottle was finished so this morning I dropped some blue cheese dressing into the mason jar and used that. Oh yes I added some sweetner. not sugar. just a tad to take a little bite off the stronger vinegar I use in the Jalapeno slices.

I also made hot sauce from 100 habanero plants last year. Now that is hot. The Jalapeno are so mild now that I am used to hot peppers.

Well we have a good group of lettuce addicts now. Remember we hold meetings Sunday through Saturday all day long. Anytime you need a fix on growing lettuce just drop in.

And please share. That is where most of the fun comes along. I hope to share free seeds in the fall. Enough seeds so you can grow some and make some seeds yourself. Usually when I get seeds I get them by the thousands. So everyone hang onto your sun glasses. More fun coming.

Hi all,
I hope it's OK to ask this here...kind of a newbie. My lettuce mix was starting to bolt and was pulling some out when I noticed black "poo" all over. I had scattered the seeds pretty closely so very "tight" planting. I found alot of green caterpillars, small amount of small slugs, and tons of those "roley poley" bugs. I tore all the lettuce out and buried in my compost pile. I collected all the caterpillars/slugs and squished them. Now that I removed them, the ones I didn't find-are they going to move on to my other plants? I have tomatoes, zukes and peas planted nearby in raised beds. I just ordered Jericho and Majenta seed and was going to plant this in the same location after the lettuce mix had bolted. Is this OK?

What advice do you have to get rid of the green caterpillars, slugs and roley poley's?

Thanks for any help!
Roxanne

BT sprayed on the plants. they eat the BT and then die. It is totally organic. It is NOT a poison. It is a living something that kills caterpillars.

the black little poos are from the caterpillars and maybe the slugs. I am not sure on slugs. Slugs can do a lot of damage eating leaves.

roly polies are sowbugs and usually do not do much damage on most things. They are not insects and not bugs.

Here is how I do them. when the plants get big they really dont hurt the plants any more. so I germinate in seed flats and grow in small container and then transplant.

However, the trick is to go out at night with a small flashlight they will come up out of the soil and chew on the leaves all night. I just pick them off and drop in a small can of water to allow them to drown.

I go out several times the first couple of days. I also try to keep the area free of plants and weeds so the area is more free of caterpillars.

If you plant the lettuce too close together it will tend to bolt. If you want lettuce you need to grow them one seed per plant separated.

what lettuce mix did you get. do you know the names of the lettuce in the mix. For those interested in Magenta.

Magenta
Taste Score 9
Leaf Colour puckered, shiny, red-tinged
Leaf Shape crisphead with whorled conical head
Days to Maturity 48
Maturity Size 28
Comments Crispy, hearty, bursting. Similar to pablo but lighter

If you want to plant your lettuce real close together then you need to harvest them as MICRO Greens or a little larger. or you need to thin them out to one plant in a good area.

Slug Control: Slugs can often be controlled simply by eliminating their hiding places. Remove rotting boards and debris left on the ground. Pay special attention to keeping the crawl space under the house free of trash. Keep gardens weeded and surrounding grass cut short.

Also, small pans, can lids, or dishes at least 1/2 inch deep sunk into the ground at 3 to 4 foot intervals and filled with beer may attract and drown the slugs. The containers must be refilled after every rain.

Slugs can also be controlled merely by hand-collecting them. Do this after 9 or 10 at night.

HAPPY FATHERS DAY.

SO what exciting news do we have today on LETTUCE and other greens in the garden. Remember the hot summer is coming and you want crispheads like Nevada, Magenta, Sierra, and for Romaine try Jericho all right through the HOT HOT Summer.

So get those seeds into the seed flats.

Koreyk,
Thank you for all the great info!
One Salad Mix included:
Black Seeded Simpson, Green Salad Bowl, Red Salad Bowl, Marvel of Four Seasons, and Bibb and was from Lake Valley Seed-purchased locally.

The other was a Mesclun Salad Mix from Burpee (also puchased locally) that included: Ruby and Red Salad Bowl, Green Ice, Paris White Cos and Royal Oak Leaf, Curled Chervil and Arugula.

I'll try to find the BT at Steins today and will also put out the trays of beer tonight for the slugs. So I shouldn't really worry about the roley poly's? I am anxiously awaiting the Jericho and Majenta seeds ordered last week...I'll work on getting rid of the caterpillars and slugs first! You recommend starting the new seeds in seed trays vs sowing directly outside? Do you start indoors or is it OK to start in the trays outside?

Thanks again for the help and HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!
Roxanne :)

Nice webpage Koreyk, and thank you for the compliment. You are wellcome whenever you wish to enjoy some salad.

I've been checking seed catalogs and find same advice in every lettuce's growing instructions here, about covering the plants with a damp cloth on hot summer days. Has anyone tried this?

Carol

Che Korey,
Here is my email address for you. I would like to com with you as I also am a lettuce freak, but not quite as good as you. The web site on the test was super. THANKS

winggunner@earthlink.net

Email me when you have a chance. I also have too much time on my hands.

Old Dawg

there is a place on GW for you to edit and change your personal settings. You can change them for yourself to allow access to your email address and then change it back so you email is not accessable.

The problem on GW is that you can not edit your posts. Now you have posted your email and people will pick it up and send you junk mail. Better to keep your email more private. Posting your email like I did last year is not so good. I learned then about changing my options in my account on GW.

We all make your mistake. I did it last year and got some or a little junk mail that is how I know about it. Anyway I emailed you.

I posted this mostly so everyone will be aware of this and know how to make contact without posting your email.

It has been heating up here and some lettuce I taste tested has a little bitter taste. Another good reason I like Nevada and Jericho. no bitter taste on those two yet.

Exciting NEWS on taste. SENPOSI page 51 second column near top. Fedco catalog. Wow what great taste. Almost has a candy taste and the leaves were so good on the texture. So incredibly tender. This is definitely a big winner. I ate mine raw in the garden. really something.

Now you have to read the full description. but a short form says you can plant in the spring and harvest all summer right through fall. very cold hearty. Also and this is a big one. Very drought tolerant. Can be overwintered in more mild climates. Fedco is up in Maine so I am sure it will overwinter in maybe zone 7 but that is speculation on my part. I am zone 5.

I was out in the garden and was shocked by now good this is to eat raw in the garden. I have never tasted anything like it. The sweetness reminded me of candy. This is a winner.

These hybrid seeds might bankrupt you at a full $1.20

Yes Fedco has the best prices in my estimation. When Burpee finds them they will want $5 for sure. Burpee will give it a different name and claim an exclusive. haha.

What is the Senposi (what kind of crop)? I don't have a paper copy of the catalog. I couldn't find it using the search function on their site.

Korey,
Thanks for the tip. I do have a good spam program and you should get an email that says that I have to appprove you. I will check now for messages. What type of lettuce is thixs Senposi?
Thanks ole_dawg and the three legged cat AKA "The Dawg"
Oh, Dawg did her thing and caught another mouse this morning. Darn is she a hunter. Chased it around until she got bored and then killed it and I took it out side.
I am getting ready to order Jerico, Nevada and this Senposi as soon as I know what it is. I will try this Fedco today and see how they do.

SENPOSI page 51 second column near top. Fedco catalog

Now read a little slower. try again. hehe.

SENPOSI page 51 second column near top. Fedco catalog

Senposi is a cross between a cabbage and I think it was a mustard. Very mild. It does have sort of a cabbage feel to it. But open leaves. they lay flat out and so take up a lot of room. Catalog says 18 inches between plants. So only try if you have lots of room. I wonder how it would taste pickled like sauerkraut. They use the term sweet on taste also which was my sensation when I tasted it.

I am growing them in small pots. Having some troubles with the pots. I used potting soil last year and this year I am using my own compost. Well my compost does not hold as much water and so they seem to dry out quicker. And I must have a lot of pots so it really gets time consuming. I will never eat all this lettuce either.

Now a friend wants me to help him on a project which will take me away from my garden. I am worried it will dry up if I am not there all the time. We shall see. We meet on Thursday. Hope it is cooler then.

I noticed a red ripening hot pepper in the garden today. It was a very early type. Espanola it is an early New Mexico heirloom for hundreds of years grown in New Mexico. The seeds can be purchased. They are not too big and they are thin. so a smallish pepper. suppose to have superior taste and super early. This is the earliest I have ever seen a pepper turn red. It is not fully red yet but more than half way already. I should have seeds in the fall if anyone is interested. Just hang in there. The Pepper Gal sells seeds. It is also called Espanola Improved. I doubt anyone has the old unImproved. it was improved a long long time ago. There are 6 or 7 new mexico heirlooms. I also have the Chimayo. which is grown for some 400 years in new mexico and they all are very early.

My dill from Fedco is looking good now.

I am starting to have problems with some things trying to bolt. But the Nevada and Jericho is rock solid. A lot of the lettuce is also taking on a slight bitter taste. but not nevada and jericho so far. and not necessarily all of them. Most I have not tasted yet. I think the leaf lettuce is going a bit bitter. I have a lot of different leaf lettuce. I am maybe going to drop them from my list next year except for a few early heads for early lettuce. But then I keep changing my mind.

Any exciting good news from the garden today.

Everyone please post what ever inspires you to want to tell us. do not be bashful. hehe.

here is the entire Fedco Catalog.

look on page 51. move the up and down slide on the right to the middle and you will be close to page 51. there are 100 pages. you do not have to click one page at a time at the bottom but once close use the bottom.

http://www.fedcoseeds.com/forms/sds29_cat.pdf

I started a thread about Red Lettuce cultivars that overlaps quite a bit with this one

I started a thread about Baby Leaf Lettuce cultivars which overlaps with this one.

npthaskell

Welcome those are great threads.

Maybe you can help me out. How can I tell the difference between Rosalita and Winter Density. I have them from Cooks Garden seed mix. They seem very similar. I seem to get one from white seeds and one from black seeds.

I made an error in the above. I meant Rouge d'Hiver and Rosalita.

winter density is plain green.

I have some freinds that start my veg's every year. They love a lettuce called Revolution. When I googled for that lettuce, I kept getting Lollo Rosso lettuce varieties. I guess there are a number of them in the Lollo family. Revolution is a very dark red leaf lettuce, with frilly edges. We love it. I actually had bought some other lettuce varieties, and one of them was named just Lollo Rosso. It's almost exactly the same as the Revolution, but maybe not quite as dark.

Friends have said that it's getting harder for them to find Revolution seeds every year. I did find some, and bought them from Cook's Kitchen.

Yes, Revolution is described in catalogs as being derived from Lollo Rosso; sometimes with the phrase "second generation lollo rosso". I got some seed in 2001 from Territorial; if they still carried it today, it would be your patriotic duty (as an Oregonian) to buy from them! ;-) My recollection was that Revolution was slow growing and too bitter for my taste, but I plan to retrial later this year or next year. I saved my packet in a zip-loc bag in the refrigerator, so some seed should still be good.

In the thread "Red Lettuce Reviews", I have several links to lettuce trials, some of which evaluated relative bitterness. In a Florida Trial, "Lollo Rossa" was among the most bitter. In the B.C. Salt Spring Seeds trial, "Lollo Rossa" was claimed to be among the least bitter. What an interesting contradiction!

"Wild Garden Seeds", in Philomath OR, has introduced this year two off-type spin-offs of "Merlot" which resemble "Lollo Rossa". I have my hands full this year; maybe I'll try these Merlot variants next year.

I hope it is ok for someone in New England to order from Territorual. I like them. A little more expensive than Fedco but they have nice choices in lettuce and other things.

I have read elsewhere on GW that we can get rid of the bitter taste of lettuce very easy. Just put it into the refrigerator dry. let sit up to two days. less time can work also. And the bitterness is suppose to go away.

I have a lot of lettuce in pots. I have been bringing them indoors for awhile to mellow out. no bitter lettuce so far. I just put them on a table in the house. does not require sun. I am guessing that the removal of the sun for a day will help reduce any bitterness.

My daughter likes me bringing in the lettuce in pots. she can pick what she wants and eat it fresh.

I am eating plenty of New Red Fire right now. That is probably as red as I need it for personal taste. I am thinking that Red lettuce tends to grow slower and be more bitter so maybe I will cool it on Red and keep the focus on the best tasting Green for the future. Then add NRF for color.

My Giant Red Mustard is not that RED. I do not consider it a great red for salad. I have not tasted it yet. I have some Red Salad Bowl from a Burpee mixed leaf lettuce pack with really dark red leaves. plenty of color there.

I hope someone can run some experiments where the lettuce is bitter and then put into the refrigerator and check back several times to see if the bitterness goes away.

Anyone have any experience already with this????

Great to finally see fellow lettuce lovers! There should be a Lettuce Forum. I usually am lurking in the Tomato Forum. My all-time favorite lettuce is Merveille de Quartre Saisons, AKA Marvel of the Four Seasons. Reason? It is so beautiful! When I bring it in to my office, we all swoon over the rosette-formed heads and it is a great lettuce to use to decorate around a big plate as a backdrop for the main dish. Use this trick at your next pot-luck, and people will be admiring your chef-like expertise. So simple, yet so eye-pleasing. AND the leaves also TASTE good too. Need I say more?
I do grow other lettuces too--Red Oak is another favorite. I got seeds of Sanchu, a Korean lettuce that I will grow later this year, so I'll let you guys know how that is, and save seeds. I am patiently waiting for the Marvel of the Four Seasons to go to seed, and I will share those. I live in So. CA., and can grow lettuce well only during the winter here. Why oh why can't we have tomato, cukes and lettuce all growing at the same season here so I can have the most wonderful salad?? I've tried to grow lettuce during Spring and Summer, many times. Can't, even in shade. Oh well...

Do you grow arugula? Though technically not a lettuce that's my favorite - especially with roasted red potatoes, grilled chicken, and honey mustard dressing. YUM!

I have arugula seeds but dont know how to grow and eat it correctly. It sometimes tastes great and at other times gets too hot. This is one reason I switched over to Mizuna. But arugula has a great flavor sometimes.

I was thinking the other day that maybe I should try cooking it. I have always eaten it raw in salads.

Please give us some hints on how to do it correctly.

Arugula and all greens below in this thread.

Lou

If you find someone in your garden it is probably going to be me. haha. WOW. Wish I lived next door to you. I have been saying I should try Mibuna but never did. now on your recommendation I will do it next year for sure. I also want to try your other recommendations. I like the idea of arugula on pizza it will go well with the hot peppers on the pizza.

I am inland and it get hot here and stays a bit cooler in the hot summer by the ocean. So it might be a little easier to grow greens by the ocean.

I moved just about all my greens in pots into the shade. Hitting 95 today and tomorrow. too hot for me.

I got my mizuna from Kitazawa and the best cucumber I ever tasted. It is the one they list as the favorite in Japan. I can not say enough about that one. Unfortunately cutworms keep hitting them on me and I am down to one plant. last year I only had 2 survive. but the 2 was more than I could eat all summer.

If anyone here wants a good laugh and has ever had a woodchuck problem here is a sort 20 second video on You Tube of getting a wood chuck with a rodenator.

I have several woodchucks for the past two years and have not caught a single one yet. Frustrating so this video makes me laugh.

peebee1

Your story of not being able to grow lettuce with tomatoes kills me. I am going to send you some seeds that I think will work. I am hoping to get them this year. They will be Jericho and Nevada. Nevada should be the best for you but it is a little smaller than the huge Jericho. But the Butterheads are the best in the heat. Have you read the entire thread.

It is 95 here and the Nevada and Jericho look just fine. Seed were planted over 4 months ago. still not going to seed. They still taste young and tender. These 2 guys are the best.

Magenta I hope to get for next year. this is a crisphead like Nevada but has some red on the tips. I will get this for the fancy look.

I need to get you some red salad bowl seeds also. I have some that are super nice red. It will still be a couple of months before I have seeds. I am growing the M4S also. It is pretty. I will have to try it for a fancy presentation of food on the dish. that is an excellent idea.

I will be offering seeds in the fall. No trades necessary but some will be welcome. If someone has a cool strain it would be cool to grow it out. but not necessary. I just want to share the fun and hope it works out for everyone.

The victoria is of the same type as M4S but I think it gives a bigger head and it is all light green. no red color.

I have a mistype in the above posting. Butterheads is wrong. it should read Batavia or Chrisphead type.

The best in the heat is the Batavia types like Nevada.

Glad I caught that error.

Arugula gets hotter the bigger the plants get. It's best to get it when they're still baby sized. Same as the best tasting spinach is small when harvested. Arugula can be mixed with other greens. I've never cooked it, though I know that lots of chefs add it to dishes at the last minute of cooking, same as they do with spinach. I forgot what the term is that they use for this procedure though.

While I love lettuce & really want various varieties, the weather here in Sacramento is never right apparently - I've tried different varieties for the the whole 1.5 years I've attempted to be a gardener. What has really suprised me is Chard! I grew up with it in the midwest but never thought it would grow so well out here. So my fresh salad greens are young chard. People out here do NOT appreciate chard. That totally suprises me!

Good observation.

My arugula is always too strong when it gets big. Maybe the problem is not the temperature but just that the leaves are older and larger. I will have to try growing it and harvesting small leaves. I have a tendency to grow everything large. I must do some more experimenting to find out how it works.

Since it is going to high 95+ F today again. I do not work so well in the high heat. I wonder if some seeds will even germinate in this heat. I need a few more cucs. One raised bed is very dry and I put in some sugar baby watermelon and it is growing slowly. I guess the watermelon likes the soil fairly dry. I have never been able to do watermelon. Maybe this will be my lucky year.

Dear Sac zone 9,
Just have to put in a word for Merveille de Quatre Saisons, nice French looseleaf that stands up well to heat. I plant it in the shade of my pole beans in summer and it does fine if I keep it moist. Not as hot here as Sacramento, but my garden is south facing and it gets a lot of heat.

Personally, I love chard!

So far I am a little disappointed in the growth of the Bright Lights chard. I expected it to be bigger leaves by now. However, I do admit I am growing them in smaller pots and not in the ground. But they just do not seem to have the vigorous growth I expected.

However they are nice and pretty and I like the colors. The taste is fine also. I nibble on the leaves as I walk around the garden. So far I have left them out in the hot sun. The lettuce is back in the shade. Today was brutal on the plants in the hot sun.

The Jericho lettuce has begun to stretch and it will go to seed. However, the Nevada is definitely still stable. No signs of going to seed but both seeds were planted 2/15 over 4 1/2 months ago. That is a very long time to not go to seed.

Recent seeds planted of regular varieties especially the looseleaf are going to seed much stronger and sooner. these seeds were planted much more recently.

I mentioned bringing indoors pots of lettuce. It works great. after a week the new growth is very very tender and the old growth is tender. This is an important idea people need to try in the hot summer to get some good lettuce to eat.

First choice however has to be the Jericho and Nevada as the best 2 lettuce to stay tender a very long time outdoors. I think Fedco sells both at only $1 for a package. I got my Jericho there and not sure if they have the Nevada but pretty sure they do carry it. great lettuce. do not miss growing it. Apparently the leaf lettuce is the first to go to seed and get tough and bitter. Just my observations as of today this year in my garden. other gardens may vary. haha.

hottomato, the lettuce you are looking for is Green Ice.

I currently grow about 80 varities of lettuce and My parents like Marvel Of The Four Seasons lettuce Drunken Women Frizzy Headed lettuce is a good one as well as Cherokee lettuce here are a few of my other favorite kinds Green Ice, Bronze Arrowhead Cracoviensis, Prizehead, Red Sails, Canary Tongue, Hyper Red Rumple Waved, Lollo Rossa, Malawi, Mottistone, Red Rosie Vulcan, Santa Fe, Pirat, Rouge Grenobloise and Bronze Mignonette lettuce. Romaine lettuce is the best that you can grow the darker the lettuce or the more red it has the more vitimans it has. My personal favorites of romaine lettuce are Forellenschluss, Rouge D' Hiver, Crisp Mint, Romulas, Cimmaron, Capistrano, pic 714, Cosmo Savoy, Rubin, Valmain and Jericho. there are a lot of Itilian and french lettuce that we like includine leaf lettuce and romaine type lettuce's. there are over 400 varities to choose from. Have fun. Here is a like to all of the varitites of lettuce.

Go to Johnnys Seeds web site and clic on the type of vegatable you want to grow then click on the growing information highlight the information copy and past it into a word processing program then move on to the next one and repete the process and soon you will have growing information on all of the vegatables you can grow. here's the one from lettuce. Remember to go alphabeticaly from a to z. www.johnnyseeds.com

Growing Information:
CULTURE: Lettuce is hardy and can be planted as early as the soil can be worked. It is a cool weather crop and makes its best growth at temperatures of 60-65°F (16-18°C). Careful variety selection is important for hot weather crops. Sow every 3 weeks for a continuous supply of fresh lettuce. THERMAL DORMANCY: Lettuce can be dormant at high temperatures. For best germination results sow at soil temperatures of 68°F (20°C) or lower. The priming process in pelleted lettuce seeds broadens the temperature range in which the seeds will germinate, overcoming some of a lot's thermal dormancy. TRANSPLANTING: Sow in flats, 4 seeds/in., or in 3/4' plug trays, barely covering seeds with fine vermiculite, 3-4 weeks before transplanting outdoors. Shade the flats on sunny, warm days if necessary to keep the soil surface cool, below 75°F (24°C), until germination. If sowing into flats, transplant 1-2' apart into flats, pots, or cell-type containers about 2 weeks later. Harden seedlings by reducing water and temperature for 2-3 days before planting outdoors. Properly hardened transplants can survive temperatures as low as 20°F (-6°C). Transplant iceberg lettuce 12' apart in rows 18' apart, other types 8-12' x 12-18' apart. DIRECT SEEDING: Seeds germinate even at low, 40°F (4°C), soil temperature, but poorly above 75-85°F (24-29°C) depending on the variety and seed lot. Cover seed lightly, about 1/8', and firm soil gently. Dry soil must be watered to ensure coolness and moisture, and for even germination. Thin young seedlings to one plant per spot. For salad mix: sow in a 2-4' wide band, about 60 seeds/ft. MT0 SEEDS: A variety name followed by MT0-10 indicates that the seeds offered for sale in sizes larger than a packet have been tested for the presence of lettuce mosaic virus and that no LMV was found in a sample of 10,000 seeds or less. MT0-30 indicates that no LMV was found in a sample of 30,000 seeds tested. NOTE: A disease-free test result does not guarantee a seedlot to be disease-free, only that in the sample tested, the pathogen targeted was not found. DAYS TO MATURITY: For full-size heads from direct seeding and growth in mild temperatures; subtract 10-14 days if transplanting. Note: maturity can be 3 or more weeks later in cool weather, and up to 1 week earlier in hot weather. AVG. DIRECT SEEDING RATE: For full-size heads (precision seeded): 5,300'/oz., 220'/1,000 seeds, 5.5 oz./acre at 3 seeds every 8' in rows 18' apart. For salad mix: 400'/oz., 16'/1,000 seeds, 6,400'/lb. At 60 seeds/ft. TRANSPLANTS: Avg. 20,000 plants/oz. SEED SPECS: SEEDS/OZ.: 20,000-30,000 (avg. 24,000). MINI: 0.5 gm. unless otherwise noted (avg. 400 seeds, sows about 17' at 24 seeds/ft., or makes 250 transplants). PACKET: 1 gm. unless otherwise noted (avg. 800 seeds, sows 34' or makes about 480 plants).