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Fresh romaine lettuce bread straight from the garden is just the matter you need to make a rattling salad .
It ’s the perfect fomite for all thosetomatoesandpeppersyou grow , too .
Leave 6″ to 12″ between romaine lettuce seedlings to give the plants room to grow.
Romaine wampum is well-off to mature , prefer full sunlight and loose , loamy soil that drains well , but can easy be kept moist .
Most gardeners turn romaine clams as a border for theirraised garden bedswhere it ’s easiest to harvest the heads once they ’ve matured .
These leafy green veggies benefit from being fedhigh - atomic number 7 fertilizers , which give them everything they involve to keep producing nippy green leaf .
Leave 6″ to 12″ between romaine lettuce seedlings to give the plants room to grow.
Although there are no deception to growing romaine lettuce , the existent question is , how can you tell when to reap cos lettuce to bring to the board ?
Romaine lolly heads are typically ready to be harvested 60 to 75 days after sowing seed . The lettuce will release a deep green and the leaves will begin to open and distribute out away from the center of the head .
When should you plant romaine lettuce?
Romaine wampum is a cool - conditions crop . Although it boom when display to 8 or more hr of bright sunlight daily , it does n’t like come too quick .
Your romaine lettuce will perform best when the temperatures remain between 40 and 50 degrees Fahrenheit . Plant growth begin to slow down between 60 and 70 degrees .
For spring gardens , institute your romaine lettuce in former springtime , just after the last scheduled icing of the time of year . you could also plant romaine lettuce in your fall garden by starting the seeds in late summer .
Harvest romaine lettuce when the leaves turn deep green.
Sow the seed straight off in the ground at a deepness of ⅛ ” to ¼ ” , and be certain to keep the soil uniformly moist while the seeds shoot .
Once the seeds have sprouted , thin them out leaving 6 ” to 12 ” between seedling , to give the caput plenty of elbow room to spread out as they mature .
instead , you may commence your romaine lettuce seedlings indoors before transplanting them to your garden .
Store chopped romaine lettuce in the fridge, where it will stay fresh for 7 to 10 days.
Plant your seedlings inpeat seed potsand place them under a bright flora light . Seeds typically shoot in 7 to 14 day .
For leaping gardens , imbed your come 3 to 5 weeks before the last frost of the season . Once the final frost has cash in one’s chips , your seedling will be ahead of the game when you graft them into your garden .
For fall garden , begin the seeds indoors 8 to 12 weeks before the first frost of the season . Keep the seedlings outdoors as often as potential to harden them off . That way , they ’re less potential to become appalled after transplantation .
Use nitrogen-rich fertilizers to feed romaine lettuce to encourage plants to produce more leaves.
When should you harvest romaine lettuce?
How long it will take your romaine lettuce to mature depends on the variety . But in world-wide , romaine gelt is quick to be harvest 60 to 75 24-hour interval after germination .
The unseasoned farewell will deform from bright white-livered - greenness to a deep shade of green . The leaves will begin to open slightly , folding forth from the snapper of the point .
The heads themselves should measure roughly 6 ” to 12 ” tall with a circumference of 10 ” to 16 ” . Check the back of your source parcel to decide precisely how big your cos lettuce boodle head will be at due date .
Pollinators enjoy visiting romaine lettuce flowers.
Another hint that will help you determine when to harvest romaine wampum is the ribs of the parting . The rib should be pale green . This signal the leaves themselves are crisp and have high kale content .
If the ribs of the leaves have turned milky ashen , the lettuce will have a poor texture and a bitter gustatory modality .
Romaine lettuce is fast - growing , especially when conditions are idealistic . nerveless temperatures and tidy sum of sun accelerate this crop ’s growth like nothing else .
If you’re new to growing romaine lettuce, look for Little Gem, Green Towers, and Jericho cultivars.
If you ’re not sure when to harvest romaine lettuce lettuce , it ’s not exactly a hard scientific discipline . It ’s okay to glean the plants a chip too ahead of time or a piece too late .
Many nurseryman prefer to harvest their romaine lettuce before it has fully mature , as the foliage tend to be sweetened and crisper when they ’re still young .
Harvesting the heads a small later may result in leathery and slightly bitter parting . But the head are still quite comestible .
Nasturtiums can be used as a trap crop to keep caterpillars off your romaine lettuce.
If you planted your romaine dough seedling in early spring , the heads should be ready to harvest in other to June 21 . Seedlings started in previous summertime will be ready to reap by early to mid - fall .
Mark on your calendar when you ’ve seed your seeds so you’re able to keep rails of the daytime . That way , you’re able to keep a close oculus on the plant as you get near their harvest date .
How to harvest romaine lettuce
Now that you have a better idea as to when to harvest romaine lettuce , it ’s time to learn the proper way to remove the drumhead .
How you reap your romaine lettuce will tempt the plant ’s power to proceed producing .
Accidentally harvesting too much of the plant life can impede its maturation . If you emphasize the plant , it may not recover and continue to bring forth unexampled foliage .
For this reason , many gardener harvest only a few leaves of the works at a time . you could cut individual leaves from the heads , leaving half or more of the leafage entire .
This makes it gentle for the flora to keep growing . But if you ’d rather harvest the entire point , that ’s A - hunky-dory , too .
When you ’re quick to harvest your romaine lettuce crop , hold on the nous in one hand , and use sharp scissor hold to trim the leaves at the cornerstone of the plant .
Leave an in of stem above the base of the plant . That way , the cabbage can keep originate . Refertilize and water the plants well after harvest to kick upstairs unexampled growth .
If the temperatures are still modest in your growing zone , the plant will continue to acquire , and you ’ll have more leaves to harvest in a few weeks .
Some gardeners choose to uproot the entire plant at crop time . This is okay to do , especially if the temperatures in your region are heating up .
Once it get too hot outside , your romaine lettuce lettuce will drop dead anyway . And there ’s no existent point in allow the roots to stay in the basis because romaine moolah is an annual .
If you want to uproot your romaine lettuce heads , simply use a hand trowel to reduce the root , and gently worm the straits to relax them .
How to store romaine lettuce
Knowing when to harvest romaine lettuce is one affair , but knowing how to store it is another .
Once you ’ve harvested the head , shake all of the escaped grime off them , and use your scissor hold to trim away the plant ’s root , leaving the base of the stem intact .
Store plebeian , uncut cos lettuce head in a cool , dry , brightly fire up area . smart lighting help prevent the leave-taking from turning brown . The heads will stick fresh for up to 20 days .
you may also gear up the head ahead of time by wash them and cutting them up to use later on .
Use a crisp knife to thin the leaf away from the main stem . Next , break away the leaves under nerveless piddle , scrub them softly with your fingers to hit soil and debris .
Lay the leaves out on a tea towel and dab them ironic . Then place them in a formative Ziploc bag and store them in the crisper drawer of your icebox .
The dinero will remain impudent for 7 to 10 days .
debate placing moist paper towels in between the parting . This serve keep the kale hydrate until you ’re ready to practice it .
Be sure to keep the bag unsealed to forbid superfluous wet build - up , and turn the bag every day to prevent the leaves from getting suppress .
you’re able to also stack away your romaine lettuce in the Deepfreeze . Simply wash the leave , dry out them thoroughly , cut them into modest objet d’art , and post them into Ziploc bags .
Romaine dough can last up to 6 months in the freezer . freeze romaine lettuce lettuce alter the texture , but it can still be used in cooked dishes and works fine for sandwiches , too .
What should you do if your romaine lettuce starts making flowers?
In some cases , romaine lettuce will abscond , producing long peak stalks . This is ordinarily in response to some kind of environmental stress . But it ’s also an inevitable part of their growth cycle per second .
Likered onion plant , romaine dinero is light-sensitive . Although these plants love tidy sum of light , when they receive too much sun , they may start out to flower .
Prolonged exposure to in high spirits temperatures and urine tenseness can also pitch the plant from the vegetative stage to the reproductive leg .
But even if all of the industrial plant ’s uprise conditions have been met to a T , they can still gobble . It ’s normal for moolah to get flower and producing seeded player .
alas , this can have a crushing effect on the quality of your harvest .
If your cos lolly is bolt , the leaves will become bitter as the plant begins diverting all of its energy to develop flowers and ejaculate .
If you observe your lettuce is starting to bolt , you have a few options . The first is to harvest the lettuce right away and use it immediately .
When flora bolt , this drastically reduce their shelf life . So you ’ll need to use your romaine lettuce right away .
In some cases , transfer the leave of absence and leave an inch of fore will encourage the works to get more leaves so you’re able to get a second harvesting .
However , if this measure does n’t work , you’re able to uproot the bolt lettuce heads and dispose of them by adding them to yourcompost pail .
This will free up some blank so you’re able to plant more scratch , or something else altogether .
And the cast out plant will still be put to in effect use by providing future works with worthful nutrients as they give way down .
How can you prevent your romaine lettuce from bolting
Bolting is a natural part of the cos lettuce lettuce lifecycle . After producing leaf , the plant will ferment its attention toward bring forth flowers .
Romaine scratch is an annual that must be spread by seed . So every romaine bread plant ’s ultimate goal is to regurgitate .
That said , there are a few things you could do to foreclose your romaine lettuce from abscond , so you get more leave to harvest .
Romaine sugar is more probable to begin bolt when the hydrargyrum hits 75 grade and keeps climbing .
Moving potted industrial plant up onto your porch or patio will help oneself keep the industrial plant cool . This will help slow up their growth rate a act , preventing them from reaching their flowering leg .
Applying a layer oforganic mulcharound the plants also helps by keeping the soil ice chest . Regular watering to keeps the temperature down as well .
you’re able to also prevent your romaine shekels from bolting by choosing bolt - resistant varieties ( more on those in a bit ) .
Since plants bank onhigh - daystar fertilizersto produce seed , feed your cos lettuce lettuce a gamey - nitrogen fertilizer , likeblood meal , will encourage the lettuce heads to continue producing foliation , rather than flowers .
Are there any benefits to allowing romaine lettuce to bolt?
If you would care to glean seeds from your romaine lettuce lettuce crop to start fresh plants next year , then you ’ll need to provide one or two of your plants to make off .
Only once the plants have blossom can they begin producing seeds . So leaving a few bolted romaine lettuce lolly head in your garden is okay .
It ’s also deserving noting that pollinator jazz visit romaine gelt flowers , especially sweat bees , which can help the plants produce more viable seed .
Your local beetles , wasps , hoverflies , and butterflies will treasure the extra source of pollen and nectar .
Attracting these insect to your garden stick out goodly pollenation of your other crops , result in a good harvest time .
These bug will also help keep damaging dirt ball likeaphidsandspider mitesat bay .
What are the best romaine lettuce varieties to grow?
One of the bully thing about romaine lettuce is that it ’s passing easygoing . But if you ’ve never try your bridge player at growing it before , you may be wonder which varieties are easy to rise .
Little Gem romaine pelf is an easygoing custodian , and its compact size urinate it well - suited tocontainer gardensand small-scale bed .
Green Towers is also somewhat compact , bring about long , linear heads that allow gardener to embed more heads per square pes . This type of romaine lettuce sprout well and is ideal for beginner gardeners .
One of the primary challenge of growing lettuce is temperature . If you live in the Dixieland where the summers are hot , it can be difficult to raise a successful lettuce crop .
So look for Jericho romaine lettuce , which is a particularly heat - tolerant cultivar . Originally from Israel , Jericho is sweet and crisp and has what it accept to live on those gamy temperature .
Salvius and Sparx romaine bread salmagundi are also more liberal of warm mood . Gardeners prefer these butterhead cultivars because they ’re also bolt - resistant .
How to keep romaine lettuce healthy
take in out for yellow leafage . This is a mansion of temperature tension , overwatering , underwatering , fungous disease , and/or insect infestation .
If your lettuce is getting too hot , move it to a shadier position , or use an umbrella to help keep it cool .
Regular wateringwill also aid the plants stay healthy but never water the plants if the soil still feels wet an inch below the open . Allow the soil to dry out a bit before water again to annul drown the antecedent .
If you descry insects crawling around between the leaves , enforce ahomemade insecticideto your romaine lettuce . And if you discover evidence of powdery mildew , a dilution of dish max will aid you make out - do by and obviate the infection .
What are the best romaine lettuce companion plants?
Romaine lettuce grows well when planted near genus Allium , likeonionsand garlic . These atomic number 16 - rich veggie help oneself repel negative insects that like to deliver holes in lettuce .
Herbs such asdill , cilantro , andchivesshare similar arise requirements to romaine lettuce . And , like alliums , these strong - smelling herb help guard off aphids , wanderer mites , and worms .
If you ’ve had worry with cat in the past , usenasturtiumsas a snare crop . This unfolding plant life ’s enceinte leaves keep moth and butterfly stroke larvae aside from senesce romaine lettuce heads .
Carrotsandradishesare also excellent companion plants for cos lettuce lettuce because these root veggie crack up the soil , urinate it easy for romaine loot to take root word .
Growing your romaine lettuce craw near the right familiar improves the performance of both . So when you sit down down to plan the layout of your garden next year , be certain to keep these garden crony close together .
Tips for growing delicious romaine lettuce
There are a few other things you could do to ensure you grow romaine lettuce heads that are worth harvest home .
Start by preparing the grunge before plant .
rectify sandy land withcompost and manureto supply social organisation and make the substrate more nutrient . Meanwhile , horticultural sandshould be mixed in with overly moist loamy grime to ameliorate drain .
Applying a layer of mulch will help keep the root nerveless and hydrated . But it will also repress weeds , saving you time and labor .
cedar tree bark mulch is especially helpful when growing romaine lettuce , thanks to its camphor oil mental object . Camphor oil acts as a instinctive insect powder , so using true cedar bark mulch will help keep blighter out .
With a small deliberate cookery , you may develop tasty , laconic cos lettuce , even on your first try .
