Who wouldn't want it crispy fresh on their plate? Lollo Rosso and Co. lose their valuable minerals and vitamins after just 24 hours. But how and when is the best time to harvest the lettuce I have grown myself?

When is lettuce harvested?

Harvesting of lettuce, cut lettuce and head lettuce can usually take place 6 to 8 weeks (lamb's lettuce even 12 weeks) after sowing. The lettuce plants should now have reached a size of 15 to 20 cm. So if you sow seeds in February, the first lettuce harvest can take place in May. Lettuce can also be harvested before it has reached full maturity. That's a good thing, because otherwise you'd 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 flowering. Especially with summer lettuce, it is often the case that the lettuce "shoots up" and forms an inflorescence. The leaves become bitter and inedible at this stage of growth.

There is an enormous variety of lettuce varieties, so 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), lettuce for picking and cutting (April/May)
  • In summer: lettuce (May-September), summer radicchio (June/July), iceberg lettuce (July-September)
  • In autumn: 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 pick/cut lettuce. Pick and cut lettuce is a variant of the garden lettuce. In contrast to lettuce, it does not form a head, but loose leaf rosettes.
When harvesting pick/cut lettuces, the lower leaves of the lettuce can be harvested for consumption, but the heart leaves can be left so that new leaves can grow and multiple harvests are possible. Lamb's lettuce and rocket can also be harvested several times if you are careful not to cut them too short.
This is not possible with lettuce, here you cut off the entire stalk close to the ground. By means of time-delayed reseeding at intervals of three to six weeks, however, the harvest can be replenished and the harvest period can be extended enormously.

What happens after the harvest?

Of course, eating immediately after harvest is always best, but lettuce and cut/pick lettuce, despite their fragility, can be stored in the fridge at around zero degrees Celsius and humidity just under 100% for about two days.

tips and tricks

Cover winter lettuce with brushwood/fleece so the lettuce can also be harvested under the snow.

Category:

Vegetable garden