In My Garden: Summer Lettuce!

Most people will tell you it’s not a good idea to grow lettuce during the summer months. It’s just too warm and most lettuce will bolt; go to flower within a short time of maturity. That is not always true though and I wanted to talk a little bit about what I’ve been experimenting with.

First it’s a good idea to buy lettuce seed that is heat tolerant or slow to bolt. Most seed companies don’t necessarily explain which seed is less likely to bolt and this is why I use Johnny’s Seeds, a mail order company, because they’re oriented toward commercial growers and explain the seed’s qualities in detail.

This year I’m using shade cloth for lettuce and a number of other vegetables to help keep them from bolting. It has worked very well. Even lettuce that isn’t specified for slow bolt has worked well under the shade cloth. It works so well that I’m growing my basil underneath it also.

The lettuce from Johnny’s that I like to use during the summer is Adriana butter head lettuce, Sparx romaine, Salvius romaine and Red Cross butterhead lettuce. I still start my seed in seed trays inside my greenhouse because they germinate a little faster, but it can be done outside as well. It’s a good idea, if you’re using seed trays outside, to put clear plastic covers over them to keep critters from eating the starts. When the seed lettuce is about three or four inches high the cells are full of roots and easy to take out and transplant them into the ground.

We can grow lettuce, as I’ve said before, all year long in Southern California and we might as well take advanage of home grown. It is so much more flavorful than the lettuce you buy in the stores.