Tentacles - Top of Lettuce

[steven2000]

Hi There Aerogarden Family, 

Growing Lettuce in the Farm Family XL for the first time and after 90 days the lettuce is growing very high and small 'tentacles' are popping out of the top. Anyone have experience with this and any advice as to how to handle them? Will they turn into larger leaves?  Should I be trimming them? 



Thank You. 

[maskedsonnet]

It’s probably trying to bolt. Is it sending up tall, skinny stalks? 90 days seems kind of early for that, but there are a lot of factors that can cause bolting. If that’s what it is, it will make your lettuce very bitter. At this point you could either let it flower and seed to collect the seeds for later, or end the project and re-start when the lettuce gets too bitter to eat.

Edit because my phone didn’t load the photo the first time: it’s definitely bolting. You’ll probably see flowers soon

[Shawn]

Those are what is bolting or going to seed.   Are you noticing the lettuce being bitter?  What also happens with it bolts or gets old.

Check out the "Greens" board.  There are several threads with Lettuce info that you may find helpful as well.BTW, Welcome to the forum!

[steven2000]

Thank you. I was completely scratching my head on that one. Now I need to research bolting and how to prevent it. It will give me something to do over the long weekend    Thanks again. 

[Shawn]

To stop the bolting, you can keep it trimmed.  I usually trim mine weekly after the initial grow.  Also, keep the water cold (use ice cubes) to stop bolting.   Bolting also happens if the temperature get too hot in the air as well.  If buying seeds, look for slow bolting varieties.