Growing Heatwave Lettuce Mix Vegetable Garden Seeds
How to Grow Heatwave Mix Lettuce from Seed
Can be transplanted or direct sown. Plant seeds in fertile, loose soil. Remember to keep the soil consistently moist. Thin down to final spacing once plants are established. For best results, plant in spring or fall. Harvest outside leaves for a continual harvest. For longer harvest, stagger planting every 2-3 weeks.
Sow 2-3 seeds 1/4” deep per cell and 2-3” apart in organically composted, well-drained soil with a pH of 6.0-7.0. Seeds germinate in 3-10 days, transplanting or thinning back to 1 plant every 9-12” as leafy heads establish. Thrives in moist soils supplemented with nitrogen-rich fertilizer and can be sown every two weeks for successive, season-long harvests.
How to Harvest Lettuce
Most varieties of lettuce can be harvested 45-60 days after sowing or once the younger outer leaves have reached 4-5” long as a “cut and come again” crop. Harvest leaves when young and tender for best flavor since leaves bitter with maturity. Heads may be harvested whole, roots and all, or just be cut at the base while leaving behind an inch to the rooted stem. Garden fresh lettuce stores well cold in a plastic bag for 7-10 days. Do not store near apples or bananas.
45-55 days. Cultivated throughout the 19th century by pioneering American horticulturalist Eugene Davis, Grand Rapids lettuce was named for the hometown in which he began his commercial greenhouses; developing a perennial grow operation in which Grand Rapids lettuce, among other crops, was grown and shipped year-round from Michigan greenhouses. A long standing favorite, Grand Rapids produces medium-large plants that have wavy, frilled, deeply cut, light green leaves. Nice uniformity. Perfect for cold-frames, greenhouse growing or in the garden of course. Crisp, tend and tasty. Resistant to heat and tipburn resistant.
40-50 days. Bright green and red loose-leaf heads of dense salad greens, Prizehead lettuce is one of the fastest maturing and delicious varieties of lettuce. Tolerant to heat and slow to bolt, Prizehead is a strong crop for many gardens. First introduced to the United States in the 1880’s as a practical commercial crop, Prizehead would soon become an agricultural phenomenon. Prizehead produces luscious heads of green lettuce with outer leaves that are loose and curled. The inner leaves are lime green and the outer fringed leaf tips are purple to bronze. Prizehead is perfect for salads and garnishes.
55-60 days. AKA Marvel of the Four Seasons. An original French lettuce variety of the "4 Seasons" strain. Has deep, rich magenta outside leaves that move toward an apple-green interior where it is self-blanched. "Quatre Saisons" translates literally into four seasons - meaning this hearty lettuce can survive where other lettuces fail! The rich colors are most seen at spring or fall sowings but is a beautiful addition to any salad all year round! Has deep, rich magenta outside leaves that move toward an apple-green interior where it is self-blanched. Survives where other lettuces fail! The rich colors are most seen at spring or fall sowings but is a beautiful addition to any salad all year round!
45-50 days. An 18th century Mediterranean heirloom still popularly grown throughout Europe, oakleaf lettuce is a unique cultivar of butter lettuce, grown for its unusual oak and arugula-like greens. Also known as “feuille de chene” in France, oakleaf was sold in 1771 by the historic French seed producer Vilmorin, which had been King Louis XV’s personal seed supplier. Heads form large rosettes of uniform leaves that are heat resistant. Royal Oakleaf lettuce is an improved Oakleaf variety that is slower to bolt.
Bronze Arrow Lettuce Seeds
60 days. A dark and leafy crop grown exclusively for its dense and bronze-tipped leaves, Bronze Arrow leaf lettuce is a subtle and flavorful variation to traditional red leaf. And unlike other varieties of leaf lettuce, Bronze Arrow grows a rare and tender oakleaf-like green rather than a savoyed, curled, or crisphead crop.
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