I have an unheated polytunnel which will be partly vacant this winter and I thought about growing some lettuce. Could someone please recommend some suitable varieties - both hearting and loose leaf - and best sowing times.
Location - Wiltshire
Thanks, Paul
Hi I'm trying a few this year,
Artic King (sow Sept - Nov)
Epinard Geant D'Hiver - sow Oct - Nov)
Lettuce Valdor - winter butterhead, sow late Aug to mid Nov
Lettuce Val D'Orges - good for over-wintering
Lettuce Winter Density - cos type
also a sprinkling of Tom Thumb, Brune D'Hiver, Winter Marvel and some Endive (the early sowings all bolted)
all a bit of an experiment - some will be in cloches, others in placcy greenhouse
1066 :)
Last year I grew some Romaine which are cos type. They grew very well and slowly so were usable for months! I will be growing them again in my polytunnel, they need very little attention and very little watering and the like!
O B
Quite a few varieties of lettuce and endive will grow albeit slowly in a polytunnel through the winter.
They can take cold temperatures but not damp cold air so keep the humidity down and unless it is literally freezing open the door(s) during the day. If frost is expected cover them with some fleece,newspaper but take it off as soon as the indoor temperature allows
All Year Round survived outside (East Midlands) through last winter from a September sowing, I'll certainly go with them again this year.
Ok, thanks for all the suggestions, I'll order a couple of them in the next week or so and have a go.
Paul
I can highly recommend Winter Density grown as a "cut & come again". With one or two leaves taken from each plant most days they will grow to 18" or more tall (can need staking) before they actually give up and bolt
(http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/2638/lettuce.th.jpg) (http://img517.imageshack.us/i/lettuce.jpg/)
Click on the thumbnail for a larger view
The image taken a couple of years ago shows some Winter Density plants with an extended tape alongside indicating a height of 18" ... they will go significantly taller!
Six small plants were put out in the plot before Christmas last year (more in hope than in anger) with cut-down plastic bottles protecting them. They were finally discarded some six months later, approaching three feet high 8)
Radicchio "Palla Rossa Bella" (my seeds are from Suttons) didn't grow tall, but grown similarly, under "bottle cloches", provided their bitter-sweet leaves for a very extended period.
Hmm, thats certainly a different shaped lettuce than I'm used to seeing, A good idea though, something I might try
Paul
kypfer - thanks the tip / reminder about using plastic bottles!
1066 :)
Bronze Arrow does well here in a cold greenhouse, Stoke (HSL) does well outside... :)
Quote from: 1066 on August 17, 2010, 13:40:03
Lettuce Valdor - winter butterhead, sow late Aug to mid Nov
Valdor is the only winter lettuce I grow now as never had much luck with others. Early sowings are ready by November. Sowings made in November are planted out in March. It is extremely reliable. I usually put 18 to a growbag. As they get larger, I harvest every other one as baby lettuce allowing the remainder to grow on.
Does it have to be actual lettuce? If you are after something 'lettucy' that copes better over winter than lettuce, you might consider broad leaf endive/scarole Cornet de Bordeaux. This is not bitter at all grown in the cooler months of the year and the large leaves are almost indistinguishable from lettuce.
There is a pack of mixed endives from Seeds of Italy, which I have had very good experiences with also. Please ignore this post, if you only wanted genuine lettuce suggestions.
I won't ignore Galina ;). They sound lovely. Thank you I shall look for those.
Quote from: galina on August 19, 2010, 10:32:04
...you might consider broad leaf endive/scarole Cornet de Bordeaux. This is not bitter at all grown in the cooler months of the year
Galina - How cool is cool? Only I found them totally bitter even sampling them in November/December - didn't eat any of them in the end. Do you sow them very late?
Quote from: earlypea on August 19, 2010, 11:22:00
Quote from: galina on August 19, 2010, 10:32:04
...you might consider broad leaf endive/scarole Cornet de Bordeaux. This is not bitter at all grown in the cooler months of the year
Galina - How cool is cool? Only I found them totally bitter even sampling them in November/December - didn't eat any of them in the end. Do you sow them very late?
Earlypea, have just sown mine indoors a week ago and transplanted the first seedlings outside. There are some italian red chicories that I find bitter, but never cornet de Bordeaux. And what SOI put in their mixed pack (all green, some frilly, others plain leafed) is also sweet. I try to grow them fast, lots of water, a bit of extra new compost as they are follow-on crops. In the greenhouse I sow considerably later, say in a month from now.
My family hate the bitter stuff, but happily eat these. However some people are more sensitive to bitter than others.
With chicory/radicchio, it's the light, rather than the warmth, that makes them bitter (which is why you need to keep witloof chicory in the dark). I guess the same is true of endive, since in France, you can buy whole heads of frizzy endive which have been blanched to exclude the light - the leaves in the centre are pale and have a gentler flavour than the outside leaves.
:)
Spudbash, your comments about Endive (I have some on the go) reminded me that I'm to tie the plants in so that the inner leaves don't get to see the sunlight, that way they should be paler and as you say gentler
1066 :)
Maybe it's like you said Galina, some people are sensitive to bitter.
It was escarole, Bubikopf - tied them up to blanch, tried raw and cooked at intervals but had to give up in the end. shame because they're substantial and good-looking winter crops.
What is SOI?
I grew these last year and they tasted lovely:
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/seeds1/product/447/1.html
I picked one or two leaves from each over winter so we had lettuce when we needed it. I had mine in a cold frame covered with polythene with a vent at the end and i also had some around the outside of the cold frame. I live in the east midlands and it stood up fine to the cold winter we had. The ones outside of the coldframe were great as they grew slower and were ready when the others in the cold frame had finished.
I will be growing these this year again
Quote from: earlypea on August 19, 2010, 17:47:37
What is SOI?
Sorry, was too lazy to write full name - Seeds of Italy.
Sad Bubikopf wasn't palatable for you, not nice having to throw away nicely grown plants. My mother taught me to leave anything too bitter in water for a bit to leach the bitterness out, but it sounds like you are not going to try them a second time.
Quote from: Spudbash on August 19, 2010, 16:32:39
With chicory/radicchio, it's the light, rather than the warmth, that makes them bitter (which is why you need to keep witloof chicory in the dark). I guess the same is true of endive, since in France, you can buy whole heads of frizzy endive which have been blanched to exclude the light - the leaves in the centre are pale and have a gentler flavour than the outside leaves.
:)
Could be light levels. I found that by the time these endives were big enough to harvest, light levels were pretty low and the inner leaves were quite pale without blanching. But even the outer leaves were perfectly palatable.
I had some in the greenhouse too this spring, which I started very early and matured in late spring in the warmth of the greenhouse and they got too bitter in the end. By then of course the days were very bright as well as warm.
Quote from: kippers garden on August 19, 2010, 19:57:42
I grew these last year and they tasted lovely:
http://www.thompson-morgan.com/seeds1/product/447/1.html
I picked one or two leaves from each over winter so we had lettuce when we needed it. I had mine in a cold frame covered with polythene with a vent at the end and i also had some around the outside of the cold frame. I live in the east midlands and it stood up fine to the cold winter we had. The ones outside of the coldframe were great as they grew slower and were ready when the others in the cold frame had finished.
I will be growing these this year again
kippers garden, how long did they last? When did you pick the last leaves?