Plucking lettuce offers the advantage, especially for smaller households, that it can be harvested leaf by leaf. Sow lettuce in balcony boxes or in open-air beds so that you can harvest from the same plants for months if you use clever harvesting techniques.
How do you harvest lettuce correctly?
Plucking lettuce can be harvested leaf by leaf by carefully cutting off or picking off only the side leaves. Make sure to leave the central heart shoots or heart leaves standing so that you can harvest several times.
Colorful diversity from the bed to the plate
Plucked lettuce is particularly attractive not only because of its particularly delicate taste, but also because of its visual advantages. With red and green leaves in jagged, panicle-like or oak leaf-like shapes, lettuce can be used to elegantly garnish exquisite dishes. Since the individual varieties can be grown mixed without any problems, you can create a varied look in the bed or balcony box.
Different types of seeds for the summer and autumn harvest
When selecting seeds, pay attention not only to freshness and germination, but also to the recommended time for cultivation. After pre-cultivation indoors, early varieties can be planted outdoors under fleece from around mid-May and harvested from June. Later varieties, on the other hand, should only be sown directly outdoors in June and July and harvested from August to October, otherwise they tend to bolt if grown earlier.
Leave the strong heart shoots when harvesting
Plucking lettuces do not form heads and can be harvested practically leaf by leaf. However, they usually have central heart shoots or heart leaves on which the lateral leaves form. Numerous varieties can therefore be harvested several times if only the side leaves are carefully cut off or plucked off:
- Oak leaf
- Venetian Brown
- Australian Yellow
But be vigilant if the lettuce goes into a flowering phase. Then harvest the entire plant in good time, as a flower makes the leaves taste bitter.
Beware of night frosts
The young plants need to be protected from night frosts with a fleece not only in spring. IN the open field and on the balcony, the different varieties of lettuce should not be exposed to temperatures well below zero degrees Celsius, even in autumn and early winter. Otherwise, harvest all remaining lettuce leaves in good time, as their delicate leaf structure will be severely affected by frost.
Tips & Tricks
The risk of too much sunlight for the lettuce is particularly high on the balcony. Therefore, you should protect lettuces on the balcony from excessive heat in August with a parasol or special shade nets.
