Reply To: bitterness in lettuce and salad leaves

[Karen]

Hey Charles,

I have been walking around our salad and lettuce beds and tasting the leaves and I do strongly believe certain varieties of lettuces gets bitter a whole lot quicker than others. I have been comparing the tastes of all the lettuces from the 1st sowing/planting in Spring. It seems that the “greener” leaf varieties are a lot less bitter than those that are a mixed of red and red/green. I know you have mentioned in your postings too that reds tends to be bitter. The only good thing is they add colour to the mix! I honestly can´t handle bitter leaves! Those growing in the shade are also a lot less bitter. Think it has a lot to do with how much heat and moisture the plants have taken in.

Several of them are also beginning to flower.

I guess it is time for me to pull the Spring plantings out and patiently wait out for the 2nd sowings to get a little bigger in their cell modules now.