Who doesn't want it crisp and fresh on their plate? Lollo Rosso and Co. lose their valuable minerals and vitamins after just 24 hours. But how and when do I best harvest my home-grown lettuce?
When and how should you harvest lettuce?
Lettuce is best harvested when it has reached a size of 15 to 20 cm 6 to 8 weeks after sowing. Cut the entire stalk close to the ground and make sure to harvest before flowering to avoid bitterness.
When is lettuce harvested?
The harvest of pickled/cut lettuce and head lettuce can usually take place 6 to 8 weeks (corn lettuce even 12 weeks) after sowing. The lettuce plants should now have reached a size of 15 to 20 cm. So if you sow in February, the first lettuce harvest can occur in May. Lettuce can also be harvested before it has reached full maturity. That's a good thing, because otherwise you would have a surplus of ready-to-harvest lettuce plants that you couldn't eat all at once. It should also be ensured that the lettuce plant is harvested before it flowers. Especially with summer salads, it is often the case that the lettuce “shoots up” and forms a flower head. The leaves become bitter and inedible at this stage of growth.
There is an enormous variety of types of lettuce, which is why you can harvest lettuce almost all year round.
- In spring: lamb's lettuce (end of February), winter radicchio (end of February), winter endive (end of February), pick and cut lettuce (April/May)
- In summer: lettuce (May-September), summer radicchio (June/July), ice cream salad (July-September)
- In autumn: winter endive, sugar loaf (October-December), lamb's lettuce (November-February)
- In winter: winter radicchio (October-February), lamb's lettuce (October-May)
How do you harvest lettuce?
A distinction must be made here between lettuce and pickled/cut lettuce. Pick/cut lettuce is a variant of garden lettuce. In contrast to lettuce, it does not form a head, but rather loose leaf rosettes.
When harvesting pick/cut lettuce, the lower lettuce leaves can be harvested for consumption, but the heart leaves can be left standing so that new leaves can grow back multiple harvests are possible. Lamb's lettuce and rocket can also be harvested several times if you are careful not to cut it too short. This is not possible with lettuces; here you cut off the entire stalk close to the ground. However, by staggering re-sowing every three to six weeks, an appropriate crop replenishment can be ensured and the harvest period can be extended enormously.
What happens after the harvest?
Of course, immediate consumption after harvest is always best, but lettuce and cut/picked lettuce, despite their fragility, can be stored in the refrigerator for around two days at around zero degrees Celsius and a humidity just below 100%.
Tip
Cover winter salads with sticks/fleece so that the lettuce can also be harvested under the snow.
