Living Lettuce

organic_wanabe

Has anyone had success with keeping one of these going for any length of time? I bought an organic one from Waitrose yesterday and its already looking very sad with a few little insects flying around it. I suspect its like the supermarket herbs and the seedling are all planted too close together to survive for any length of time. It has Roquette, Red Kale, Cocarde, Catalogna, Red Romaine. Do you think if I tried to separate them into a few tubs I might have more success in getting a few salads out of it, or should I just cut my losses and know better next time and keep my money in my purse?!?

lynzpower

defaintely replant them in some new compost and in larger pots.

Ive never had much luck with supermarket herbs etc when they remain in tiher tiny pots. I expect that theyve had all the nutrients out of their soil in transit, so repot them, i bet it will be alright

dannahaz

You can grow your own from seed, very cheaply.

angelavdavis

These are generally grown in rock-wool without any nutrients - I also suggest you plant your own.

shykins

i bought one of these reduced in tesco (69p) at least 2months ago and its still going now altho beginning to look sad .. i have had loads off it

i sit in on the windowsill in the kitchen and keep it well watered.. maybe i was jus lucky tho .. iwouldnt have bought it had it not been reduced

HTh

stefejb

i planted some mixed leaves seeds a few months back in my sqare foot garden. these are still going strong despite the slugs and neglect. you could put some in a tub on a balcony or patio - don't know how well it would do indoors though as i'm new to this gardening malarkey. Also don't overdo it - a little goes a very long way and i've even resorted to throwing handfuls of the stuff into slow cooked soups as i planted up three squares

stef

Ghost

As lettuce season is over I imagine you would have a job keeping the shop bought 'living' lettuce at home for more than a week.

Although we're having a relatively mild winter (in the South West we are) lettuce requires plenty of sun to thrive (and lots of water). The shop bought ones have been intensively produced in polytunnels, so will have a short shelf life.

Roll on the Spring (sigh).

PS: For winter - seasonal - salads you could chop/thinly slice white and red cabbage, mix witth sliced onion, grated carrot, and nuts and seeds (and anything else that takes your fancy), add a bit of dressing and voila! a scrummy winter salad.