Lettuce: The Vital Part of Any Salad

Table of Contents and IntroductionAfrican Violets: the Doyen of House PlantsAgapanthusAlstroemeriasAmerican SagebrushesAmerican WildflowersAndean Nymph - a pink mimulusAquilegias (Columbines)AuriculasAustralian AnnualsBellis Perennis (Daisies)Black-Eyed SusanBlue African LiliesBreeding DelphiniumsBreeding Fuchsias: Part 1: From SeedBreeding Fuchsias: Part 2: HybridisationBromeliads from SeedButterflies in Soy SauceCacti RaisingCampanulasChilean Bell FlowerChilly Treatment for Peruvian LiliesCollecting SeedConserving Annuals and BiennialsCosmosCucumbersCycads: Living FossilsCyclamen for IndoorsDahlias from SeedDamping OffErythroniumsF1 Hybrid - What Is it?F2 and Open Pollinated VarietiesFrom Obscurity to the Height of FashionGentiansGeraniumsGermination to Pricking OutGolden Impatiens - The StoryGrowing Alpines From Seed: Part 1Growing Alpines From Seed: Part 2Growing Bananas From SeedGrowing Cyclamen From SeedGrowing Eucalyptus From SeedGrowing Ferns from SporesGrowing Foxgloves From SeedGrowing Fritillarias From SeedGrowing From Seed: From Packet to SoilGrowing Hardy Ferns from SporesGrowing Hardy Geraniums From SeedGrowing Lewisias From SeedGrowing Magnolias From SeedGrowing Meconopsis From SeedGrowing Proteas and Related Genera from SeedHandling Small SeedsHardy Annuals: Part 1Hardy Annuals: Part 2Hardy CyclamenHardy SpurgesHelleboresIncreasing your Violas and ViolettasKeeping Records of Seed SowingLettuce - the Vital Part of any SaladLord Anson's PeaMagnolias - the Root of the ProblemMimulus from Seed to Seed in Sixty DaysNew Guinea ImpatiensOld-fashioned Sweet PeasOnions with EverythingPansies are not Difficult to Grow from SeedParsleyPerennials for American GardensPetuniasPhygelius - their cultivation and propagationPinks: Evocation of the PastPlants That Flower OncePrickly but NicePropagatorsRadishesRaising PalmsRaising PrimulasSalad Leaves - a lot to be desiredShow Stoppers Twice OverSowing SeedsSowing in Open GroundSowing to Feed our FriendsSturt's Desert PeaSweet Peas - Autumn SownSweet Peas - Sowing and GerminatingTall and HandsomeTechniques with Tiny SeedTexas BluebellThe Effect of Light on Germination and SeedlingsThe Nervous PeaThe Scarlet Welsh PoppyThe Search for the Yellow Sweet PeaToad LiliesTomatoesTreasure Hunt for TasteUnderstanding Latin NamesUnique Poppy (Mother of Pearl)Viability of VegetablesWeaning SeedlingsWill the Real Mimosa Please Stand Up

In his series on salad vegetables. Harry Smith considers the plant without which no salad is complete.

For most of us, lettuce is a vital part of any salad, and has been so for very many years. A member of the Compositae family, and thus distantly related to the daisy, it was grown by ancient civilisations in the Middle East, as well as by the Greeks and Romans for whom it served an additional medicinal purpose, the juice having traces of an alkaloid allied to opium. Luckily the valuable vitamins and minerals are far more concentrated, especially in fresh plants, and Latuca sativa is now of course cultivated world-wide, where conditions allow, and with little addiction in evidence.

Whatever form those early lettuce took, today's catalogues offer a wide choice of shape, texture and colour for different kinds of cultivation and seasons of the year. Times have changed a lot since lettuce were either 'cabbage' or 'cos', yet the useful and compact 'Tom Thumb' survives from the thirties' catalogues, as does the reddish-brown-tinged 'Continuity'. Today there are butterhead kinds, crisp iceberg types, loose-leaved lettuce in lurid reds, and those especially bred for growing under glass.

Varieties

Widely available among the butterheads is 'All the Year Round' with medium-sized pale green heads, and crisp white hearts. Very hardy and reliable, it stands up better than most to dry weather. 'Webb's Wonderful' is still the most popular garden lettuce with its large crisp heads, and is slow to run to seed. Of the Iceberg types, 'Triumph' makes large and weighty, tightly-packed heads with few outside leaves.

Cos lettuce seem to be rather less popular than once they were, but the large 'Lobjoits Green' still has a following with its dark green, upright and self-folding hearts. 'Little Gem' is deemed a semi-cos by some suppliers and ‘Chartwell’ is reckoned by many gardeners to be the best flavoured lettuce of all.

In recent years, thanks perhaps to the supermarkets, loose-leaved, cut-and-come-again lettuce varieties of the green 'Salad Bowl' type have become increasingly popular, together with the red frilly kinds like 'Lollo Rossa' (sometimes 'Rosso') which many folk find so attractive.

'Short day' lettuce, especially bred for growing under glass in winter, have been with us for some time now, but are lacking in Varieties offered. One of the few still offered is the Dutch-bred, large-headed 'Kwiek' which does well under cold or slightly heated glass, and will mature in November and December from a sowing in August. Avoid overcrowding and give adequate ventilation to discourage any fungal diseases to which greenhouse grown lettuce are so prone.

Cultivation

As short-lived annuals, lettuce will grow on most kinds of soil, but prefer a light, fertile and well-draining loam with plenty of humus to hold the vital moisture. Like most vegetables, lettuce do best in a sunny spot, though they tolerate light shade which can even be a blessing in summers like the recent ones. The ground should be well-cultivated some time beforehand, but freshly-manured ground is best avoided. Leave rough dug until sowing time, then tread and rake the soil to a fine tilth. If ethics allow, a light dressing of 56-85gm (2-3oz) of a general fertiliser raked in before sowing will get things off to a good start and keep them growing well.

For the earliest crops outdoors, the seeds may be sown under glass in late January and February, and transplanted under cloches or polythene tunnels in March. They should be set in firmly with a trowel in preference to a dibber, and spaced from 15-30cm (6-12in) apart, depending on their final size, leaving 30cm (12in) between the rows. Timing of the first outdoor sowings will vary with weather and soil conditions, but is usually possible from April onwards. As with most crops, placing cloches or a tunnel over the site well beforehand will help warm up the soil, and enable an earlier start to be made.

Sow only a few seeds every fortnight in drills 1.25cm (1/4in), or do it when the seedlings from the previous sowing are beginning to emerge. This should yield a succession of lettuce for picking in their prime. Luckily the seeds' light colour makes it easy to sow them thinly, but thinning of the seedlings will be needed as they grow, finishing with spacings as above. These thinnings need not be wasted, as washed and trimmed of their roots they can make a delicious and useful addition to sandwiches.

Later sowings of lettuce sometimes suffer from poor germination and this is usually caused by too high a temperature in the soil. Germination of some varieties ceases above 60F (15C) and this can be a problem in prolonged hot spells. Watering the site just prior to sowing can help somewhat, as can restricting the sowing time to late afternoon. The same trouble can occur with sowings made under glass in hot weather, and in such cases removing the tray to a cool room in the house for about ten days to a fortnight will make germination far more certain.

Regular watering is vital to maintain soil moisture in dry summers, as any check in their growth can cause 'bolting' or premature running to seed, as well as encouraging pest attacks in the roots. Failing this, thoroughly soaking the soil a fortnight before the lettuce are due to be gathered should be a great help.

Those grown under glass for winter use should be watered when planting out and again two weeks later, but any more could well cause diseases to gain a foothold and is best avoided. If further watering is required, be sure to do it in the morning of a sunny day to allow time for drying out before nightfall.

Lettuce may also be grown in containers such as large tubs where they can look most attractive, especially when coloured kinds are intermixed with the green types. If the loose-leaved types are grown in this way, cropping can continue over quite a long period, provided the compost is kept damp and given the occasional liquid feed. A few plants of trailing small tomatoes such as 'Tumbler' can also be added around the outside, and give an extra salad ingredient to gather at the same time. Wherever they are grown, the succulent leaves of lettuce can be a magnet to several pests. Birds, especially sparrows, can wreak havoc at times and then netting will be needed to keep them at bay. Slugs will also spoil a promising crop in a very short time unless precautions are taken. Aphids can sometimes be troublesome, but are rarely much of a problem. Fungus diseases such as collar rot, downy mildew and grey mould or botrytis may also affect the plants, but generally the crop will be healthy if growing strongly in good conditions.

The food value and flavour of lettuce fall off rapidly once they are gathered, so this should be done as soon as possible before they are eaten. Wash the leaves in water to which a little salt has been added, followed by several rinses in cold water. They should then be dried by whirling in a wire basket, or better still, one of those splendid hand-operated 'spin-driers' for salads which really work amazingly well. When preparing the leaves for use in salads they should be torn rather than cut, as this helps prevent the edges going brown. Dressings can greatly enhance the flavour and appeal of any salad, but do resist the temptation to drown the lettuce leaves and destroy their essential crispness.

Lettuce can also be cooked by braising, boiling or baking, and will form the basis of a soup. Such concoctions are very much an acquired taste though, and for most of us the lettuce will remain fresh to be savoured in the simplest or most sumptuous of salads, not only in summer but throughout the year to tickle our taste buds and provide some wholesome, healthy eating to keep us gardening fit.