Beautiful but Bitter Lettuce

[dee2]

Up until today, my lettuce tasted, mild without any type of bite or bitterness. I harvested a couple of leaves for a small salad and a sandwich. Much to my surprise when I took a small piece of Red Sails it tasted quite bitter. The lettuce feed schedule was today, but harvested the leaves before I fed them. I read that if you let the leaves get too large the lettuce will bolt and taste bitter. Any one else experienced bitter tasting lettuce? Can it be fix? Or, do I need to start a new lettuce garden?

[maskedsonnet]

I don't really see any signs of bolting, which will make it very bitter... Have you noticed any longer stems forming in the center where a flower stalk might be starting to grow? Toughening leaves? Sometimes the taste is the first indicator that bolting is about to start, but I wouldn't make the assumption until you notice other signs, it'd be a shame to get rid of it if there's more life to the plant. If it is starting to bolt, there's really not much you can do but take it out and plant new seeds. I've only grown lettuce a handful of times so I don't have tons of experience in trouble-shooting reasons for a bitter taste if it's not bolting.

[dee2]

No, there are no other signs. Stalks are not leggy. I’ll give the a couple of days before taking drastic measures. I just fed the garden, so I’ll wait before I do a taste test.

[campingcorgis]

Is it just me, or...where's the Red Sails?  Yours looks nothing like the Red Sails I've grown.  

[Sher]

I would guess that cutting back on the nutrients might give it a milder taste.

Akso, after lettuce gets a bit older (usually after a few harvests), it starts tasting more bitter.

[campingcorgis]

Mar 20, 2021 17:28:48 GMT -5 Sher said:

I would guess that cutting back on the nutrients might give it a milder taste.

Akso, after lettuce gets a bit older (usually after a few harvests), it starts tasting more bitter.

I stopped using the AG nutes for greens, as mike has mentioned using only Ionic Grow only for lettuce and greens.  I've not had a bitterness issue...but I'm very, very new to this!

[dee2]

Mar 20, 2021 16:17:51 GMT -5 campingcorgis said:

Is it just me, or...where's the Red Sails?  Yours looks nothing like the Red Sails I've grown.  

campingcorgis here’s one of the pics in which
I labeled the lettuce. What is ionic green?

[campingcorgis]

Mar 20, 2021 20:11:57 GMT -5 dee2 said:

Mar 20, 2021 16:17:51 GMT -5 campingcorgis said:

Is it just me, or...where's the Red Sails?  Yours looks nothing like the Red Sails I've grown.  

campingcorgis here’s one of the pics in which
I labeled the lettuce. What is ionic green?

Hmmm...well, for the Ionic Grow look here.  Your Red Sails doesn't appear to be red at all?  That might point to a problem, but I'm a newbie and won't pretend to know what it mean.  Additionally, it almost looks like my Black Seeded Simpson?  And your Deer Tongue looks like my Parris Island.  And, maybe your Parris Island looks more like my Deer Tongue.  Can't see the Black Seeded lettuce in the picture.  Hopefully, someone that is more knowledgeable will chime in soon!  Sorry I'm not much help.   

[dee2]

The earlier pics in this post give better views of Red Sails and Black Seeded Thompson. These are AG heirloom pods. Thanks for the link to Ionic. I will try it out.

[campingcorgis]

See the links below.  I wanted to use internet pictures to rule out that I've mislabeled my crops.


Red Sails at Park Seed

Black Seeded Simpson, not Thompson?

Again, hoping that Shawn or mike might take a look and comment about the color of the Red Sails and if that might be connected to the bitterness you have experienced.  My lettuce garden is now 72 days in the AG and we enjoyed a great salad last night.  A few days back, I had to end the Black Seeded Simpson as it looked like it was about to bolt, but the Red Sails is still growing and providing great salads.  Mine look about the same as the pictures in the above links.  

[Shawn]

I have no clue on any lettuce but romaine.  I have heard that some of them are bitter to begin with and I do not like bitter.  Sorry.

[mike]

It's my experience the red fades over time. Mine on the farm  showed little red after the initial push.

Also, greens get bitter if allowed to flower. That's the reason I initially went to Ionic Grow nutrients only for greens. I didn't want the nutrients that encouraged the plants to flower influencing the growth of new greens. 

[campingcorgis]

Mar 21, 2021 9:52:53 GMT -5 mike said:

It's my experience the red fades over time. Mine on the farm  showed little red after the initial push.

Also, greens get bitter if allowed to flower. That's the reason I initially went to Ionic Grow nutrients only for greens. I didn't want the nutrients that encouraged the plants to flower influencing the growth of new greens. 

Interesting.  My Red Sails seems to get a deeper red and more of it, as time goes on.  Maybe it will fade in the future.  It is one of my very favorites and seems very happy in the AG, so I planted a couple more in my new greens garden (now 16 days old).  

[Sher]

When I grew red sails, they stayed very red. My guess is that it has to do with the light level. But that is only a guess.

[mike]

To be honest, the red varieties of lettuce are my least favorite. I find them to be more bitter, in general. My favorites are the Jericho, Black Seeded Simpson and the Butter Crunch.

[campingcorgis]

dee2 see picture below.  This is my Red Sails in the 72-day-old lettuce garden in one of my Farm24+ units.  I hope this explains helps to understand my earlier questions.  


That's Marvel of the Four Seasons trying to sneak into the picture on the left.  NOTE: I harvest leaves regularly, but from the bottom mostly, so the top stays looking pretty.  LOL.  

What kind of water are you using?  Tap, distilled, something else?  Do you have a fan running?  I have a fan in the room, specifically for the lettuce, but I'm sure everyone else benefits too.  What's the temperature of the room?  Just curious.

mike, I want to try Jericho, it is on my list of seeds to buy.  I've got Butter Crunch in the new Lettuce garden, and looking forward to it.  On the Black Seeded Simpson, we may need to talk.  

Later, I'll start a new thread for info on my water.  

[mike]

That is really red. It's really pretty looking. I've only grown the seed kit variety for butter crunch, red sails, four seasons, black seeded simpson and parris island. I found all of their leaves to be too dainty, without much bite, crunch wise. The Jericho is a bigger plant. It grows in the hottest part of summer, too. It is my favorite lettuce.

[golddustpeak]

Mike, do you follow the planting instructions of 6" to 12" spacing for the Butter Crunch and or Jericho Lettuce or how do you plant them?

TNX

[mike]

Butter Crunch at least 8", Jericho 10".

Jericho Tote Layout



This is when it got out of hand. It IS a 2-foot plant.

[golddustpeak]

WOW!