Lettuce seedlings - now what ?

Caz2_2

I keep my lettuce plants on the kitchen window sill and just keep taking off what i need and they keep growing when eventually they are finished i will start a new kind off, I have tried growing them outside but everything else tends to eat them before me. Otherwise your back door step in pot.;) Ps I have found pepper plants very slow and painful to grow, its not you.

katyk_2

katskorner wrote: »

You can sow direct in the garden yes, but be careful as slugs and snails tend to nip the new grow to destruction. It is easier to start them in pots or trays until they have a bit of growth to help protect them a bit more. Even then you need to protect them from slugs and snails as they love the leafy crops. I just spinkle a few pellets around. You can get natural ones now too if you want to avoid the chemical type, especially if you have hedgehogs!

Hi Katskorner
I prefer to avoid all slug pellets even though they (slugs) are a real problem for me (a whole row of tiny lettuces just vanished in one night a couple of years ago - hours after I had planted them out - as if they had never been there at all!)
Less chemical methods (also cheaper) are -
Put a cut plastic cola/juice bottle over the baby lettuce - not as a propagator - leave top cut off too. If the persistent little darlings still insist on trying to climb up and over it put a smear of vaseline round the top and they cannot get a grip.
Alternatively, save all your empty eggshells and crush them then sprinkle a little path right round the strip of lettuces as they are sharp and the slugs don;t like to crawl over them. You can but sharp sand for this in DIY stores but the broken egg shells work just as well.
Hope this helps someone - taken from a tip on this site about 2 years ago!
Good luck
Katyk

TommyBoy

katyk wrote: »

Less chemical methods (also cheaper) are -

Or if your lucky like me you have two big ponds full of frogs that eat all the slugs

katyk_2

I have planted some iceberg lettuses but they seem very tall and very spindly - doubt if they will be ableto stand up on own at all if they get any taller (about 2-3" but with no substance to them at all). Have I done something wrong or is this normal?

katyk_2

PS How do I find all the other gardening chat forums on here please?

malamala

I have saved up many Pistachios nut shells, do you think I can use it instead of egg shells to deter slugs?

Thanks!