
If you’d prefer to collect the whole head of lettuce at once, it’s still possible to gather it in a way that allows for a second harvest. It’s vital to sterilize your garden tools between uses to avoid inadvertently spreading diseases between your plants. Using a clean, sharp pair of shears, snip no more than half of the lettuce leaves from the outer edges of the plant’s rosette.
#Best way to store romaine hearts how to
This is how to harvest romaine lettuce so it keeps growing and the center leaves continue to produce. In the weeks before your lettuce plants begin growing flowers, it’s best to harvest the outer leaves only as needed. Sow new lettuce seeds between the established plants every few weeks so that they germinate and sprout by the time the older ones begin flowering. Succession planting is an excellent technique to ensure that you have a fresh crop of tender lettuce leaves throughout the growing season. It’s best to cut the whole plant before it bolts. Once romaine lettuce bolts, the leaves quickly turn bitter and inedible.

#Best way to store romaine hearts full size
Expect full size romaine lettuce leaves 50 to 75 days from planting seeds.īolting happens when lettuce plants start prematurely flowering and produce a seed stalk during periods of especially dry or hot weather. Although the leaves are typically dark green, there are also a few red and purple romaine cultivars.īaby lettuce leaves are usually ready to harvest four or five weeks after germination, or once the lettuce plants form a rosette of at least ten leaves two inches long.īe sure to leave at least half of the leaves to keep growing. Romaine lettuce forms an upright, elongated head with loosely bunched leaves that curve slightly inward.ĭepending on the variety, the leaves grow up to 16 inches long. It differs slightly from other types of lettuce like bibb, butterhead, crisphead or iceberg lettuce, and loose leaf lettuce. It’s easy to regrow lettuce from scraps, whether you grow romaine or another kind. Romaine lettuce is one of many species of Lactuca sativa. Growing lettuce and planting arugula seeds is incredibly easy, and the results are well worth your efforts. Homegrown veggies are always tastier and more nutritious than produce from the grocery store.

