Harvesting individual leaves is one way to extend the plant’s production.
Other ways to keep the harvest going are tosuccession sowevery two weeks in early spring or fall.
Here’s how to harvest your lettuce to enjoy some leaves now but keep the plant producing more.
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Tip
Lettuce seed germinates at temperatures between 65F and 85F.
which gives a fairly long time period for sowing seed.
Seed packets usually include information about the number of days to harvest.
Examples include red, green and oak leaf lettuces.
Planting and picking early can increase the length of your harvest by 30 days or more.
In the morning, leaves have the greatest water content which keeps them crisp and flavorful.
Remove the oldest, largest leaves, 4 to 6 inches long, from the outside of the plant.
Use your thumb and forefinger to apply just enough pressure to break the leaf off the crown.
Lettuce turns bitter when it bolts.
When and How to Harvest Head Lettuce
Head lettuces have a growth habit similar to cabbage.
Young leaves sprout from the center with older leaves forming layers to create a dense round or clumped form.
Head lettuce comes in two varieties: crisphead (like iceberg) and loosehead (like Romaine).
Harvest crispheads by cutting the stem below the core.
What If My Lettuce Has a Flower Stem?
The lettuce leaves may still be edible but are already becoming bitter and tough.
Once this process starts, there is nothing you’re able to do to stop flowering.
Discard the plant and, if weather conditions still allow, sow a new crop.
Plant early and choose loose leaf varieties with the fewest number of days to harvest.
As soon as outer leaves are 4 to 6 inches in length start removing them.
