I planted Romaine lettuce in my garden and it finally looks like its done. We tasted it and all 4 plants are extremely bitter. What gives? I had to fertilize it with a veg fertilizer and I made sure I washed it well. Any ideas? I planted other plants as well in that garden....zuccinni, cucumber, cabbage, carrots, strawberries, melon, Onions, leek, peas, and I think thats it.
2007-07-19 13:47:49 · 6 answers · asked by Tabbitatt 3 in Home & Garden ➔ Garden & Landscape
It's too hot. lettuce is a cool weather plant.
You can try again for an Autumn harvest.
2007-07-19 13:51:41 · answer #1 · answered by Sptfyr 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Lettuce is a cool weather plant, and you can sow the seeds early in the spring 2-3 weeks before the last frost. Ditto spinach and onions. I have no idea why your lettuce is bitter. My turned out just fine. I planted three different kinds of leaf lettuce. Did you fertilize it recently? Give it 2-3 days. Also, pick it in the morning after the cool night. That might help.
2007-07-19 16:08:38 · answer #2 · answered by ? 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes their are lettuce seeds, almost any hardware store carries them and many supermarkets will have seeds also, I like the leaf type lettuce as you can cut the leaves and they will grow back for another cutting. Leaf lettuce also has more nutrition than the head lettuce. You can also go to hardware stores, greenhouses, even the plant section of Wally-World and get lettuce seedlings you can transplant. Transplant at evening and water well. The cool of the night will make the transplanting easier on them. Lettuce, I find, does best with partial shade, but I've grown it in full sun too. I live in the north so I can grow lettuce, and other leafy veggies easier, and longer I use to have a large garden but now I can only do containers. I use a lot of hings I can get free, like used buckets, you can sometimes get some free from the bakery section at Wally-world. Drill holes in the bottoms for drainage. I've also used kiddie wadding pools, old bath tubs , toy tubs, etc, everything but the steel tub needs holes drilled in bottom for drainage. I mix potting soil with top soil. The top soil lets the water soak in faster so I waste less water with it running down between the plant and container. When I can I will go to the woods and rake back the top leaves under the trees to the soft soil underneath I collect the top soil there which is years of mulched leaves, and add this also to my top soil mix. This leaf mulch soil is loaded with nutrients for good healthy plants to grow which means alot of good healthy nutrition for you to eat. This leaf mulch is also free, organic, and is not manure or chemical. You can get a tomato already started from Lowes, Home Depot, Wally-World or a local greenhouse. Put a tall steak in the ground with is at least 5' high, to tie the tomato to as it grows or it will trail the ground and the tomatoes can rot before they are ripe or the slugs can get them. Get Heirloom not Hybrid. Hybrid will not grow the same as it's parent plant. Only the Heirloom will produce the same plant that you planted. My favorite Heirloom tomato is the Brandy wine, they win most taste test competitions. The German Pinks are a great Heirloom sandwich tomato too. The Romas are great for making spaghetti sauce, and salsas.
2016-04-01 02:50:38 · answer #3 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If the weather was starting to warm up the lettuce probably did whats known as bolted. It means it had a sudden growth spurt which causes it to be bitter. Thats what i've learned from my garden books and clubs.
2007-07-19 13:59:33 · answer #4 · answered by blumby 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Lettuce sometimes gets bitter if it is left too long before it is picked.
2007-07-21 14:13:37 · answer #5 · answered by Sebastian 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
some lettuce naturally taste bitter try little gem or cos lettice
2007-07-20 04:20:14 · answer #6 · answered by john s 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋