few calories —a cup of shredded leaf lettuce has about 5 calories; a source of vitamin A; Planting. To prevent bolting, planting leafy lettuces in the spring and continually harvesting (cutting them back) during the year will likely prevent bolting and provide lettuce leaves for most of the summer. To do this check the seed packet for days to maturity and do some calculating. To harvest celtuce stems, snap or cut them off at ground level, leaving the uppermost leaves intact but tugging off the lowest leaves. The plant will continue to produce tender leaves even after the first harvest. The time it takes for a lettuce head to become ready for harvest will depend on the variety. Loose-leaf lettuce plants (Lactuca sativa) are fast-growing, cool-weather crops that are easy to plant and harvest.Unlike iceberg, butterhead, and romaine lettuce, these leafy greens and reds do not grow from a head or heart, making them an ideal low-maintenance crop. Harvest: For leaf lettuce, start picking the leaves when there is at least 5-6 mature leaves of usable size. Red Leaf Lettuce. Harvest butterhead lettuce when the heads are full, but still young and tender. A mature head of lettuce will be … Popular cultivars include Red Sails, Tango and Slobolt. Once the leaves of a loose leaf lettuce grow to at least 4 inches tall, it means that they are ready to be harvested. Loose Leaf. Generally about 65 days after planting is when to harvest lettuce planted in the fall, while harvesting heads of lettuce from a winter planted crop will take about 100 days. Leaf lettuce can be harvested anytime the leaves are large enough for your preference. Plant and harvest wisely to prevent bolting. Keep picking until a seed stalk appears or the leaves become bitter. Usable size means about 2" long for baby lettuce, and 5-6" long for more mature lettuce. Harvest lettuce in the cool part of the day so that it does not wilt immediately. Harvest in the morning. If your goal is to grow leaf lettuce throughout the summer, choose heat tolerant varieties. Lettuces are considered short-term, fast-growing leafy greens. Crisphead lettuce will keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. After the red leaf lettuce survived that first wilt it not only thrived but it literally flourished. You can watch this segment from the High Performance Garden Show Week 5 to watch how to pick leaf lettuce. To harvest: Lettuce can be picked whenever real leaves form. Loose-leaf, butterhead, and romaine lettuce will keep in the refrigerator for 2 weeks. Learning How to Harvest Red Leaf Lettuce. My question is how do I harvest the lettuce and what can I use to take away some of the bitter taste? Easy to harvest, Buttercrunch lettuce will take between 55 to 60 days to reach maturity. The best method is to preserve the crown of the lettuce and pick the outer leaves. Lettuce needs little introduction. Before maturity, you can harvest leaf lettuce by simply removing outer leaves so that the center leaves can continue to grow. If you don’t need the space right away, plant loose leaf lettuce and let it regrow all season. Heading lettuce should be picked when the heads are firm and the size reaches 6" to 8" in diameter. When fully grown it forms rich green, compact heads of fan-shaped leaves. You should eat your red leaf lettuce soon after harvesting it. Snip leaves about 1/2″ above the soil line at each harvest with a sharp pair of scissors or shears. There are many methods for harvesting lettuce plants. It is an appropriate notion to make a note on your calendar when your lettuce is anticipated to mature. Harvest loose-headed leaf lettuce when the leaves are large enough to use—just 2 to 3 inches (5-7 cm) long. Many people think out to harvest the entire head to the dugout while harvesting leaf lettuce. 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