You can sometimes prolong the harvest if you take just a few of the outer leaves from your lettuce plant, wait for more to grow, and then pull a few more leaves. But, once you've cut the top completely off, the plant is finished and the roots will die without producing additional leaves. Lettuce prefers to grow in coolish weather, so don't plant any now or they'll bolt prematurely and produce seeds instead of tender leaves. Wait until about six weeks before your predicted frost date and plant another crop of lettuce so it can grow in the cooler fall temperatures. (Your average frost date is the end of September so plant your lettuce seeds from mid- to late August.) Hope this information helps. |
You can sometimes prolong the harvest if you take just a few of the outer leaves from your lettuce plant, wait for more to grow, and then pull a few more leaves. But, once you've cut the top completely off, the plant is finished and the roots will die without producing additional leaves. Lettuce prefers to grow in coolish weather, so don't plant any now or they'll bolt prematurely and produce seeds instead of tender leaves. Wait until about six weeks before your predicted frost date and plant another crop of lettuce so it can grow in the cooler fall temperatures. (Your average frost date is the end of September so plant your lettuce seeds from mid- to late August.) Hope this information helps. |