Bitter lettuce - for goodness sake!

[skeeter9]

I have been harvesting lettuce from volunteers that came up from last years crop, but I also planted a large bed of mixed lettuce earlier in the spring. Wouldn't you know, before we could even eat one single leaf of the beautiful baby greens they all went bitter and I had to tear the whole bed out! Very frustrating. I didn't realize that temperatures in the 70's are too warm for lettuce. What the heck?

 

[digitS']

Maybe stress for more than one reason results in bitterness.

If it is heat, a Romaine stands up better to it without bolting than most varieties that I grow. Another lettuce family is the Summer Crisp. They are also called Batavian. I prefer those to the Romaines for tenderness & flavor.

I often wonder how gardeners can grow lettuce well in real desert conditions.

Steve

 

[baymule]

It just isn't fair. All winter, out of season for tomatoes, I have bodacious lettuce. Before the first tomato blooms, the lettuce bolts and goes bitter. Not fair!

 

[thistlebloom]

When I used to live in that so-called Mediterranean climate, I grew a lot of Blackseeded Simpson, not the most noteworthy lettuce maybe, but it seemed to hold off on the bitterness real well.

 

[ninnymary]

Yep, hate it when lettuce gets bitter. Olivia who's 3 told her mother that my lettuce tasted "funny". She said her's tasted sweet. Well her's hasn't started bolting yet.

Mary

 

[skeeter9]

I know what you mean, Baymule. No chance of getting lettuce and tomatoes at the same time here either.

The new bed of lettuce wasn't even close to bolting - just three inches or so. We were taking care of our neighbors place for the past week and I tried her lettuce. It was already bitter too. At least her spinach was tasty! Lol