First Crop: Life Span of lettuce

[tonydedo]

Hi friends, I'm hoping you can help clarify some conflicting information I'm reading on the lifespan of lettuce. 

I planned to have two rotating gardens so I'd always have a crop to harvest.

According to AeroGarden's instructions,"Salad Greens will grow for 3 - 4 months, and you can begin harvesting after only 3 weeks. That gives you about 3 months of continuous harvests."

With that in mind I planted one crop in July and expected to be able to harvest it beginning in August.  I planned to wait two months and then plant a second crop in September, so I could begin harvesting it in October when the first crop gave out. 

However, now I'm reading that conventional wisdom is you only get about three harvests from a single plant.  Three harvests vs. three months seems like a big disparity. 

Is there something I'm missing here (do you only harvest once a month), or is AeroGarden being hyperbolic with their claim?

Some people harvest more and some less. Some cut off a lot like me and some just a few leaves. Some cut down to the quick and some clip partial leaves.Different amounts , different preferences, different lights, different growth...different lettuce varieties!!!

In my honest opinion the questions you are asking all boil down to one's own particular way of doing things. One has to find their own 'rhythm' after a few projects and rest in that routine! We learn by doing.What works for your  needs may not work for another's. Just jump on in and let the growing happen and find your groove.

It is all in personally trying it out.

[Shawn]

I agree with Corinne.  

If you go thru the member gardens you can read on how long they all grow and trim theirs.  I only grow and use three times before replanting, but that is my preference.  I also cut like a lawnmower halfway down and let regrow.

[tonydedo]

Four days later!!!  I wish I sprouted that quickly... 



Fun observation for those of you worries about aging seeds - these seeds were unplanted leftovers that came with the garden I bought second hand.  According to the package, they expired last summer, which I'm guessing makes them ~2 years old.  And one box had been opened and was no longer sealed.  And yet we have 23/24 sprouts.  I know AG gets some crap for the cost of its seed pods, but that's some pretty impressive quality.

Off to a great start. Seeds usually last for 3 yrs or even more! Refrigeration also extends the life of seeds.Some seeds can be stored and must be used for a particular year and the company usually writes that on the wrapper

an aside:

My brother gifted me a book on the Svalbard world seed project where seeds were frozen in an underground vault in Norway for a world disaster and retain seeds for the world to survive

Very very interesting:

[tonydedo]

Day 19 and we're nearly ready to harvest!  I'm already behind the ball - I haven't even had the time to plant the second garden yet.

[joes]

I think harvesting at 3 weeks is early. My first time I did that and I think they were really not mature enough and it took them long to recover. When they were larger, cutting about the top 1/3 they would recover in about 5 days and be ready to harvest again.

I am on my second round and don't plan to harvest until day 30. Someone else wrote that they have two crops, and replant every 30 days. The older batch for harvesting, the younger waiting its turn. I plan to try that. I saw some people cut more than 1/3 and I will probably try that on some. I think if you had an entire farm dedicated to lettuce (I don't - yet), you might maintain a plentiful continuous supply for two people. If anyone has tried this, please comment.

[Shawn]

Look at Nick's gardens.  I THINK he has planted for rotation.

[tonydedo]

Day 22: First harvest!

This was my first real AeroGarden harvest - I cut about a dozen 8"-12" leaves of Swiss Chard (3.5oz) from five plants and made a nice little summer salad.  I was really impressed with the crispness and flavor.



Tips followed:

• I kept the nutrient level low, generally adding 1/2 the AG recommended amount, maintaining an EC of .8 to 1.2
• I refilled the reservoir with ice water to drop the temperature a couple hours before I harvested.
• I harvested the largest leaves starting from the outside, cutting ~1" from the base.
• I took 2-4 leaves per plant, no more than 25% of the plant.
• I harvested before I added nutrients for the week.

Tips not followed:

• I used gardening shears instead of tearing or those special lettuce knives that have been recommended.
• Some suggested three weeks might be too soon to harvest.  I had six plants growing and one definitely wasn't ready to harvest.

[Sher]

Fantastic first harvest report, tonydedo! I love your pictures.

Congratulations! 

Great review! Way to go Tony

I have never eaten swiss chard raw. I'll have to give it a try.

[Gr]

Oh, the baby leaves are really tasty that way.  

[dianne]

Aug 10, 2020 11:18:11 GMT -5 @zyphax said:

I have never eaten swiss chard raw. I'll have to give it a try.

I only recently tried it and discovered how tender and tasty raw swiss chard is! It's actually less bitter than when cooked. A few leaves of swiss chard in my daily salad is a great addition!

As for harvesting lettuce (and the lifespan of it), once the leaves are big enough, I clip 2-3 leaves from every plant every day. (This is usually enough to make a lunch-size salad.) 

When the leaves start to taste bitter, or when the plant starts growing stalks like it wants to go to seed, I clip out the entire plant, remove the pod, and pop in a new one.

I devote 12 pods of my Farm Plus exclusively to lettuce, and I have it growing pretty much continuously. Right now I have 8 plants I'm harvesting and 4 that are still too little. Of the 8, one seems to be reaching the end of its life and will soon be clipped out and replaced.