To All:
I broke down and bought a “four pack” of young “Muir” lettuce plants. In each sub-pot(?) of plants there are 3-4 stems, and I see online that directions for planting recommend that for head lettuce, one normally plants 2-3 seeds together, then thin the plants when they get to 3-4” tall, which these now are. (None looked “great” @ Menards, but, this cool rainy weather has really revived them.)
Anyway, I am completely unfamiliar with “Muir” lettuce, but I am assuming each stem is actually an individual plant, and not multiple stems of the SAME plant, correct? So, I will need to thin them?
The plan is to pot these so I can move them around, and maybe try again to continue to grow these lettuce plants in the basement under a strong LED light, come mid-June or so. How big a pot per plant should I use?
Zone 7a, BTW.
Thanks!
Another question: Our local Menards still does not have most of their “six pack” plants in, and the prices for the few they do have was (IIRC) $5.98.* Do other FReepers see or not see this limited availability at their Menards Stores?
Other sellers have better availability. $5.98 seems to be the going price (but Menards has the 11% rebate, of course.)
*So much for the days of $1.50 6-packs! :-(
Wow! That is a really pretty lettuce. Reminds me of Black Seeded Simpson.
Each ‘head’ should be in a 6-8” pot. It doesn’t have to be really deep - a recycled nursery pot would be just fine. Lettuce has a shallow root system, so depth usually isn’t a problem. Make sure there’s good drainage.
Lettuces in pots are ‘heavier feeders’ so get in the habit of using a diluted 10-10-10 fertilizer (basic Miracle Grow, or go organic) with every watering.
I have some pictures to post later of my experiment with re-growing store-bought Romaine lettuce ‘stumps.’ It worked pretty well!