Lettuce

High temperatures can cause lettuce to go to seed.

Recommended varieties for head lettuce are: Great Lakes No. 659, Minetto, Montello, Lake Superior, Imperial No. 847 and Ithaca. Varieties of semi-head types recommended are: Buttercrunch, Paris Island and Summer Bibb. Leaf types recommended for South Georgia are: Slobolt, Oakleaf, Red Sails and Salad Bowl.

Although Georgia isn't known for lettuce production, you can grow lettuce in your home garden. You can choose several types: head lettuce, semi-head lettuce and leaf lettuce. Semi-head lettuce and leaf lettuce grow fastest and are easiest to grow.

All lettuce grows best in a good growing season, but some types are adapted to more adverse conditions than others. High temperatures cause all types of lettuce to go to seed and cause head lettuce to form a loose head and a bitter taste.

Semi-head lettuce, in which the base of the head is compact but the top is open, does well in our growing conditions. Fall and spring crops are possible. The loose, leaf types are the most widely adapted since they don't form a head. They require only 50 days from planting to harvest.

Fall crops are recommended.

In South Georgia, plant lettuce seed in late September and October for fall production and again in late December and January for a spring crop. Head lettuce is best grown only as a fall crop. Recommended varieties for head lettuce are: Great Lakes No. 659, Minetto, Montello, Lake Superior, Imperial No. 847 and Ithaca. Varieties of semi-head types recommended are: Buttercrunch, Paris Island and Summer Bibb. Leaf types recommended for South Georgia are: Slobolt, Oakleaf, Red Sails and Salad Bowl.

All lettuce will tolerate frost and light freezes when it's young but may be damaged by a frost or light freeze when near the harvest stage. Lettuce is sensitive to highly acid soils, so soils with a pH below 6.0 should be limed to bring the pH above 6.0. The fertilizer requirement is one pound of a complete fertilizer like 8-8-8 for each 25 to 30 feet of row. Maintain the crop's growth with a side dressing of fertilizer three or four weeks after transplanting.

Lettuce seed may not germinate well at high soil temperatures, so you might want to chill the lettuce seed in the refrigerator for a few days before you plant in early fall. This helps break the seed dormancy or keeps them from being dormant.

Plants can be started in cups…

Plant seed directly in the row and when they come up, thin them to about four inches apart for leaf types and 10 to 12 inches apart for the heading and semi-heading types. Plants may be produced in cups, peat pots or flats and transplanted to the garden. Plant head lettuce in full sun for proper head development.

One of the biggest problems when producing head lettuce is the failure to thin the plants to the proper spacing. If two or more plants are allowed to remain where only one should be, or if plants are too close, the heads will be poorly formed and loose.

About 80 days are required from planting until head lettuce is ready to harvest. The semi-heading types take about 60 to 65 days.

For more information on lettuce contact your local County Extension Office.