Last batch of lettuce for harvest this year was seen NOW!

Last batch of lettuce for harvest this year was seen NOW!

Today, 10.8., the last batch of lettuce of the year was sown, which should give fresh lettuce from the end of October until everything goes well until Christmas Eve (last year it succeeded with a little good will and a cold vegetable drawer). The art of sowing at this time is the right timing: the salad should preferably have formed almost finished heads when the day length has decreased to 10 hours a day - which according to Danish conditions happens around the 20th. October.

The preferred variety has for several years been Winter Gem, which is a winter cultivar variety of Little Gem for sowing from September to January. Experience has shown that it manages to have developed well to the critical time in October if it was seen on August 10, so today Winter Gem has been sown (sorry - winter is coming?).

Last year I also tried with another winter variety, namely Winter Density. Both varieties developed to a suitable size, but when day frost occurred for several days in November, Winter Density with its looser growth form coped with the frost much worse, while the outer leaves could simply be peeled off Winter Gems more compact heads to get fresh undamaged leaves. Therefore, this year only Winter Gem was seen for late autumn use - whereas other varieties can be used for sowing small overwintering lettuce plants in September.

Written by Peter Norris