Lettuce (Lactuca sativa)
From C&PWiki
A cool-season crop grown for its edible leaves, lettuce is a popular but perishable garden staple.
Contents |
Related species
Lactuca sativa, the species that includes all varieties of true lettuce, is a member of the Asteraceae or daisy family, which also includes some edible thistles such as artichokes and cardoons, the sunflower and sunchoke, chicory, and edible flowers such as chamomile and marigolds.
In addition to garden lettuce, the Lactuca genus also includes a number of closely related species, many of which are known as "wild lettuce" and most of which are bitter, toxic, or otherwise unsuited to garden cultivation.
Growing lettuce
Lettuce is a cool-season annual. Direct sow outdoors starting in early spring, a few weeks before the last frost, and again in late summer once the worst heat is over. Most gardeners make succession plantings of lettuce to ensure a steady supply. Lettuce can be started indoors as well and in many areas can be grown throughout the winter as an indoor container plant. Growing plants need plenty of water for their shallow roots but not much fertilizer. Fall-planted lettuce can tolerate light frosts but will die in a hard frost.
Bolting
Lettuce has a tendency to bolt during hot weather, putting up seed stalks and turning the leaves bitter and unappetizing. Exposed garden lettuce can bolt after just a few days of severe heat.
There are many strategies to avoid bolting. Lettuce may be planted where it will be shaded by other plants that grow in the summer, such as under a leaning cucumber trellis. It may be covered or shaded artificially to protect it from the summer sun. Giving lettuce plenty of water can prevent bolting even in hot conditions, and removing the outer leaves from cut-and-come-again lettuces can shock the plant into staying fresh and sweet longer. Transplanting lettuce to another part of the garden, or simply pulling them up and replanting them, will also shock the plant's system and prevent bolting.
Companion planting
Lettuce will not grow from seed near most brassicas because of thyocyanate, a chemical substance produced by those plants which prevents lettuce and other seeds from germinating. Lettuce is often grown near taller plants such as tomatoes or in a spot where it will be shaded by growing cucumber or squash vines to protect it from the summer sun and avoid bolting.
Saving lettuce seed
Lettuce seed can easily be saved from open-pollinated cultivars. Many lettuce plants will self-pollinate even before the flowers open, although for safety's sake different varieties that flower around the same time should be separated by at least 25 feet.
| This gardening-related article is a stub.
Please consider filling in some content if you are able. | 
|
Eating lettuce
In the United States and much of Europe, lettuce is typically eaten fresh and raw in salads. However, it can also be cooked just like any green and often is in Asia. Sturdy Romaine-style lettuces tend to hold up better to cooking, while leaf lettuces more quickly develop a flabby, unappealing texture.
In addition to grilling, blanching, braising and stir-frying, lettuce can be pureed into a delicious soup.
Preserving lettuce
Lettuce is almost entirely water, and any type of preservation generally leaves it flabby and unappetizing. For this reason, lettuce is almost always eaten fresh.
Even in fresh form, lettuce is more perishable than most other vegetables. It can be kept fresh from the garden for up to a week in a root cellar or refrigerator as long as it is kept dry; some people wrap lettuce in a paper towel or seal it in a plastic bag with a dry washcloth or dishtowel to avoid condensation. A paper bag often gives better results than plastic for the same reason. Commercial lettuce keepers are also available and work on the same general principle.
An alternative solution is to transplant a few heads of lettuce indoors for the the summer heat. In the winter, your idle seed-starting lights can grow lettuce indoors as well.
While fresh lettuce can never be kept fresh more than a few days, extra lettuce can be cooked into a soup and frozen, and lettuce can be frozen if it is going to be used for a cooked application where a crisp texture is not required.
Lettuce wine
| This wine-related article is a stub.
Please consider filling in some content if you are able. | 
|
Lettuce varieties
| This gardening-related article is a stub.
Please consider filling in some content if you are able. |
|
