Lettuce recommendations

[Chrispy]

Next year I am not going to grow any lettuces on my plot, rather I will just grow `pick and come again` in individual pots outside my front door so we can just pick we want each day.

I will of course be growing salad bowl/oak leaf, red and green, but can others please recommend other suitable varieties as I would like a few different to pick from, and I would like at least one variety that has a bit of a crunch.

[Chrispy]

[Anisemary]

Little Gem grow well in containers and have a bit more heart than the loose leafed.

[Aden Roller]

Little Gem is... little  ;D and very useful if you want a whole lettuce but not a huge ones.

A packet of Kings "mixed" lettuce goes a long way and provides a range of types and colours. I start them off in small trays or pots so that I have some ready for planting out when I need them.

Oriental Salad mix (T&M) is great grown near to home. On the plot it grows too quickly for me to keep up with the picking and runs to seed. It has a mix of textures and great flavours some with a pleasing 'bite'. Might be worth trying.  ;)

[Aden Roller]

Little Gem grow well in containers and have a bit more heart than the loose leafed.

Great minds think alike  ;D

(I was typing as you posted.)  ;D

[Jeannine]

I grew a home made mix of lettuce in a deep box, anything I have hgets chucked in the mix and it works well for small leaves.

I like Webbs Wonderful and Simpson Elite and grew these all the time

I grow Little Gem and Tom Thumb under lights through the winter

XX Jeannine

[brown thumb]

 i also like land cress, lambs lettuce, mustard, there is loads to try i have some on the allotments and also grow in long planters ( about 9"high) out side on the deck <i too is only growing at home next year  for convenience sake  i will  bring them on in the green house  and transplant out in the planters

[Spudbash]

There's some great advice, including variety notes, in Charles Dowding's Salad Leaves for All Seasons. I bought the book a few months ago and haven't bought a single salad leaf since! Mine are grown in washing-up bowls with holes drilled in the bottom, arranged on the metal frame from one of those mini-greenhouses and I've had lots of fun trying out different lettuces and other salads. It has taken five months for a single slug or snail to find out where the pickings are!  ;D

Harvesting only leaves from around the edge of each plant maximises the yield. This tip is the best one I have learned this year in any aspect of gardening. I cut each leaf with scissors - not great if you're in a hurry, but it means you can use your fingers to remove any unusable leaves, whilst keeping the leaves for eating clean and therefore quick and easy to wash.

As to varieties, I've sown three or four in a line in each square washing-up bowl and half the fun has been trying different ones. My current favourites are Freckles and Dazzle. Cos types have performed well, provided I've caught them before the leaves reach the size of my hand. We enjoyed the spinach and wild rocket we had in the spring...must be time to sow some more!

:)

[brown thumb]

using washing up bowls what a brilliant idea is it one variety in each or is each bowl mixed    where can i get some cheap bowls  :-\

[1066]

agree with the tip from Charles Dowding about taking an outer leaf at a time instead of the whole plant, they also keep brilliantly in the fridge (my salads are mostly up at the plot).

Love the idea about washing up bowls - poundshops would be a good place to start looking - either that or under your own sink  ;)  :D

as to mixes I've played around with a few, but have also picked up some great packets of cut and come again (wyevale 50p sale), also got some as freebies. The one thing with the mixes is that there does tend to be quite a bit of raddicchio, which is ok for me as I like it, but I know some people find it a bit bitter

[Jeannine]

I grow in the bottom of the fridge bins.. they are about 11inches deep and 30 + across , we were lucky as all the fridges(which come in our apartments) are being replaced  so everytime an old one shows up in the undergrounmd waiting to be dumped we get the salad crisper from the bottom, I have about 20 of them now.

They make great indoor growers so I know the washing up bowls will work well.

XX Jeannine

[Spudbash]

Just to be clearer about the washing-up bowls: I sow three or four little rows in each square washing-up bowl. Each row can be a different variety, so you get a mixed salad when you pick. An oblong bowl would also work well; I've also used a round bowl (not a washing-up bowl) and grown Webb's Wonderful in it, for leaf use at a little less than hand-size - but from plants raised in modules, and only a few. Webb's has made a nice contrast to the flimsier leaves - quite substantial, if not actually crunchy - it really depends on the weather.

I should also add that I drill holes in the bottom of each washing-up bowl and then line it with plastic, for some drainage, but not so much as to make watering a pain to do.  I use Westland Organic Vegetable Compost, which I get at a multi-buy price, and the amount I use costs about the same as one bag of salad leaves from the supermarket.  ;D  I also use seaweed-based feed from time to time - maybe once every 10-14 days.

I think that the deeper the container, the more pickings your lettuces will give before being exhausted. Although the root system is shallow and don't need much depth, deeper containers save you work over the season, so, as usual, Jeannine is onto a good thing.

[Aden Roller]

Thanks for the tips Spudbash.

Does one fill of compost last the season and do for several sownings?

[Spudbash]

I don't know the answer because I've only used each bowl once; the first has some wild rocket in it, so I've left it in the hope of a late flush of growth from it. I've picked over each crop several times, so it has already given me good value.

I certainly intend to re-use the compost in some way, probably for a different crop such as oriental greens, once I've beefed it up a bit with some chicken poo pellets.

Spudbash  :)