Reply To: bitterness in lettuce and salad leaves

[Karen]

Hello again,

Thanks for replying… much appreciated. I am actually living in Germany (about 90km south of Berlin) I do believe our temperatures are somewhat quite similar to that of England.

The lettuces and salad leaves were grown in raised beds with loads of compost (well rotted horse manure and composted materials). Can and are they supposed to be grown in direct sunlight or better in shaded areas? I remembered clearly too we had the same exact problem with the bitterness when we were growing them in New Zealand.

Would you also be able to tell me how long the harvest period of your lettuces before they got bitter? I do believe too that there are salads/lettuces for different seasons…. e.g. summer and winter lettuce varieties

I do own a copy of your Winter Vegetables book and Salad Leaves for All Season. I guess I should have another look at them… however I never was able to find anything about the causes of bitterness in lettuces. Although I have read somewhere in the internet that lettuces are bitter when a thick white liquid oozes out when plucked. Due to the maturation of the plant .

My apologies for ranting on. I am actually curious and surprised that not many people have my similar problem. I am also hoping to be able to provide a constant supply of salad leaves to our family restaurant.

Thanks again for taking the time and effort to reply to my question.

cheers!
Karen