Unless you tend a garden outside your igloo , chance are your lettuce crop starts to phase out by previous June , maybe even before then . These coolheaded - weather crops are often the first in my garden to send up flower stem as air and soil temperature rise with the kickoff of summertime .
I have always felt that Mother Nature represent a wicked caper on us gardeners — giving us Bounty of gamy tomatoes in the summer , but none in the wintertime when salad greens are at their impudent , sweetest , and most abundant .
I grow a kind ofheat - tolerant greensfor my summer salad localization ( edible red leafage amaranth , spinach chard , and several Asian mustards ) and even tried to spring up traditional spinach for a while under the shade of a yield tree diagram . While that give - sow spinach ordinarily held off on bolting too ahead of time in summertime , it also scantily grow beyond a few inches and a few leaves . As I found out , too much shade was just as elusive as too much Lord’s Day .
Related : These are thebest vegetables , herbs , and fruit that will grow in shadiness
But years of trial and erroneousness — and many , manybolting plants — at long last led me to find the best types of lettuces that do n’t beware a little heat in the middle of summer .
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Why butterhead lettuce is the best summer salad green
Butterhead lucre is normally known for being among the most warmth - tolerant and bolt - resistant of all the lettuce type . Many boodle can be successfully started from seed in early spring and harvested through summertime , especially if you live in a mild summertime neighborhood , but …
Sometimes the flavor is lacking . Sometimes a estrus wave will spur a bloom stalk to form . Sometimes you have to shade your kale craw , or pee more oftentimes , or inseminate a succession of seeds every other week because your lettuce keep bolting .
I just want lettuce that I could cover like any other summer harvest , one that would taste like boodle taste the other three season . No squabble , no mess .
One year in my coastal geographical zone 10b garden , I startedButterhead Speckles lettuce seedsin pocket-sized pots outdoors , under full sun , in late May . Theseeds germinatedwithin a week and I transplanted the strongest seedling into the garden in June .
My summertime salad bed got at least eight hour of lineal sun per mean solar day , with the last visible radiation fading in late good afternoon . The pelf grew slowly through our on - and - off June sombreness , but going into July , it seemed to double in size overnight .
The loosely formed head had several layers of slenderly cockle , bright and light green , cerise - specked leaves that were as tender and sweet as my winter - grown cabbage . I blame off individual leaf as I demand them , and new foliage continued to number up steadily .
The butterhead bread were oblivious to the fact that summer was in full lilt ; in fact , they seemed to expand on those longsighted , warmer Clarence Day . I water only twice a week and mulched heavily with husk . They had incredible warmth permissiveness with no signs of bolting within the first duo calendar month . The leaves did n’t even sag in the middle of the day , when the Sunday was harshest .
That was in Southern California , when the summer always begin off mild ( averaging 75 ° F to 80 ° F during the day ) but in the fall , senior high school of 90 ° F or more were common as Santa Ana idle words sweep up through . Our Amerindic summers were usually the hottest and driest weeks all year , and those butterhead lettuces lasted through the end of September — four calendar month after germination !
Because of that , Butterhead Speckles earned its blank space as a pleasant-tasting staple fiber in my summertime garden . ( I continue to arise it now in Central Oregon , where my south - face garden get blazing hot Lord’s Day from 8 am to 7 atomic number 61 all summertime . )
More heat-holerant lettuce varieties
If your summer - unsure lettuces have bitten the dust , here are some other rut - kind miscellany to try . I ’ve grown many of these salad Green River over the years with a beneficial level of succeeder .
I should also cite that if a sure open - pollinated smorgasbord that does particularly well in your climate , it ’s worthsaving the seedsfrom that lettuce to implant the following yr — then saving the semen fromthoselettuces to embed the year after that .
By continually save seeds from your best - performing plants , they will finally adjust to your growing weather condition and become even more resistant to heat , drouth , or whatever challenge summer throw their room .
Quick Tip
Should the list below feel overpowering , try thisheat waving mixinstead , which blends several different slow - bolting lettuce ejaculate variety in one packet . ( That ’s also my favored company for finding these kinds of heat - tolerant lettuce seeds in one place . )
Butterhead/bibb
Green leaf
Red leaf
Batavia/French crisp/summer crisp
Crisphead/iceberg
Romaine/cos
8 tips to keep lettuce growing in the heat of summer
you may keep lettuce going all summertime long with a few simple tricks up your sleeve . Here ’s what I do to reap lettuce well into September :
1. Grow loose-leaf varieties.
In general , liberal - leaf gelt are more heat - resistant and slower to bolt than lettuce varieties that take form heads . I encourage you to try a butterhead lettuce first , followed by any type of green leaf , red folio , or batavia lettuce . I ’ve establish that these are the most forgiving ( and long lasting ) in summer , and there ’s plenty to choose from in those category .
2. Sow seeds at the right time.
dough come become abeyant when dirt temperature riseabove 80 ° F ( a condition called thermo - inhibition ) , which means they wo n’t germinate when it ’s raging outdoors . Keep in mind this issoiltemperature , not air temperature , which can be several degrees different .
So if you desire a summertime harvest of lettuce , be sure you seed semen in the garden in fountain when the weather is still mild . optimal soil temperature is around 68 ° F but kale seeds will begin to germinate in temperatures as down as 40 ° F .
But if you lack this meridian seed - starting window ? Then see my next tip below !
3. Use transplants or start seeds indoors.
Yes , you could start moolah in the middle of summer ! Whether you buy transplants orstart them from seed indoors , make certain the seedlings arehardened offproperly before planting them outside .
Choose a tank or overcast mean solar day to transplant ( preferably in the late afternoon to eventide ) and add a 2 - inch layer oforganic mulchto protect the roots , shade the soil , economise moisture , and keep leaves off the ground .
4. Succession plant your lettuce for a continuous crop.
Set out new organ transplant or sow another row of seeds every two to three weeks until the stain temperature get too ardent for them to burgeon forth . This will ensure a steady harvest all season long — as one group of plants starts to fade , another chemical group can take its place .
chronological sequence planting also gives you some form , as you’re able to beak infant leaf lettuce or more matured lettuce , depend on your demand .
5. Don’t skimp on water.
Lettuce hasshallow roots , so compared to other summertime crops ( like deep - root tomatoes ) , it require more frequent watering ( but in curt bursts ) when the mean solar day are farseeing and hot .
For new transplants , it ’s a effective mind to give water for the first couple weeks to aid the roots get more established . After that , you may put your lettuce layer on drip irrigation to keep the territory moderately moist . ( Youdidremember to mulch the bed , right ? )
On ace live days , do n’t be afraid to give your boodle a blue shower with a garden hose to cool the plants and the area around them , and keep the leave from wilting . If you havedrip irrigation set up , you may even attach small misters to the lines and race them 2 to 3 multiplication a Clarence Shepard Day Jr. ( for 10 to 15 minutes each sentence ) to offer some respite in the estrus of summertime .
Read more : Keep your plant happy in summertime with thesehot - atmospheric condition watering tips
6. Provide shade in the hottest part of summer during the hottest part of the day.
Shading your lettuce industrial plant can easily be done by planting them in between taller crops ( like tomatoes , peppers , brinjal , or corn ) or behind any treillage of vining plant ( like cucumbers , squeeze , beans , or melon ) .
In spring when all the plant are still little , your shekels will have ample sunshine to produce more rapidly . As summertime gets going and the days get lovesome , those other plants will grow taller to provide shade and relief to the bread .
When adjudicate where to engraft , it ’s better to give pelf morning sun or fond sun ( where it ’s shaded midday ) . you could also grow lettuce in good deal under the canopy of a tree , in an east - front windowbox , or in any case of container that can well be moved around as needed to avoid supererogatory sun . Shading your plant can bid enough of a temperature drop to keep them from bolt , sometimes up to five calendar week subsequently .
If you still have your crushed burrow hoops in station from winter / leaping , swop out the frost cloth for shade cloth ( anywhere from 30 percent to 60 percent nicety , bet on how intense your Dominicus is ) . This will help cool down down the industrial plant so they ’re less potential to bolt early on .
Where to purchase
Shade cloth
7. Give your plants a nitrogen boost.
An constitutional liquid plant food ( I wish thisfish and seaweed emulsion ) can give your plants a healthy rise and encourage more leaf production . Butdon’tfertilize during a heat trance ( when daytime temporary worker are systematically above 85 ° F to 90 ° F ) , as this can exacerbate the works ’ heat emphasis .
rather , give them mint of water ( sometimes twice a day , once in the other morning and once in the tardy afternoon ) to prevent wilting , tartness , and previous bolting .
8. Harvest often.
The key to keeping lettuce growing all season long is to pick the leaves often so the plant continues to bring out new leaves . If you do n’t harvest while the plant is actively growing and let the leaves become large and mature , it sends a signal to the plant that its job is done — and it ’ll start to bolt and produce seeds .
That means you take to notice a way to eat or give away your lettuce every calendar week , or just compost the older foliage ( that are 4 to 5 inches or long ) to keep the flora short and generative .
detest wilted lettuce ?
Don’t let good food go to waste.
Download my Fruit & Vegetable Storage Guidefor printable charts , helpful point , and confidential tricks for keeping your lettuce crisp and the rest of your produce super fresh — for as long as possible !
This Wiley Post update from an article that to begin with appear on July 27 , 2011 .
