Taking leaves or whole plant

[martMember]

Hi Charles,

I don’t expect you’ll do away with all your secrets but I have a question. If I understand your writings correctly you are all for just picking leaves and not taking the whole plant. This can make sense if you have little space but I wonder about the time factor. I understood you sell your leaves but won’t they become extremely costly by hand picking them. Cutting the whole plant an dismantling it surely must be faster. So I wonder why do you do this and is it worth the hard work? My question came up after rereading a piece of you where you wrote that a x(large) number of plants gave xkg during a certain time. I believe it was in the region of 50/80 plants giving 1 kg which I thought was low. Might have been a tipo.

[charlesModerator]

 Mart, there is no secret, and your speculation about picking times, although it might seem right, is wrong, in my experience at least.

Picking leaves off plants, rather than cutting, is as quick if not quicker because the act of picking outer leaves rather than cutting across the top results in faster and bulkier re-growth, so the next picking is quicker (leaves are a good size), and in plants living longer. I find that picked plants go to flower later than cut ones. Grenoble Red lettuce sown September is productive until June – not possible if it were cut.
Repeat pickings are bulky and go on, and on, and on. Hence we are still picking off a range of salad plants sown last September, around 16kg from the top tunnel this morning (measures 18×30 feet), and we picked about the same amount off the same plants exactly a week ago, and the week before, etc (much less in midwinter though). Time taken this morning was about four man/woman hours. No planting costs since October, hardly any weeding of the undisturbed soil: that saves time too! 
The numbers you quote are just to give an idea as time of year, plants’ age etc all vary the results.

Please let us know if you find a better way, including all time for extra sowings etc.
And… why would it seem harder work to pick than to cut?

[martMember]

Agreed, I forgot you have to replant less and also cutting whole plants renders whole plants, not leaves. I’d just occured to me but did think it really through.
Thanks.

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