The romaine lettuce plant, Lactuca sativa, has upright heads with loosely coiled leaves which cup inward.
While romaine can tolerate warmer temperatures than some other lettuce varieties, it is generally considered a cool-weather crop.
You’ll see that the timing and methods of harvesting impact the quality of this lettuce. If you use the right harvesting methods, you can have fresh romaine lettuce out of the garden (see more about different lettuce types here).
Find out when romaine lettuce will be roughly mature, typically between 55 and 65 days.
However, don’t trust your calendar to guide you when to harvest, as growth circumstances might impact the maturity rate.
In this article, learn how to raise romaine lettuce from seeds so you may pinch off the outer leaves to get baby lettuce leaves.
You can discover how to monitor the romaine lettuce’s development as the maturity period draws near and when to pick the lettuce rather than when it was sown.
Will Romaine Lettuce Regrow When Cut?
Head lettuce known for its health benefits is romaine.
You may discover how to collect lettuce in two ways: one where you can continuously gather leaves from a single plant and another where the plant can grow again.
Around 65 to 70 days after planting the seeds, romaine lettuce is ready for harvest. The heads can reach complete maturity in up to three months.
If you desire a second harvest, snip the head off just above the base. Alternatively, use precise gardening shears like the STAYGROW 6.5″ Pruning Shears to cut the entire head of romaine at once.
After your initial harvest, ensure the lettuce has enough time to grow new leaves.
At 55 to 60 days after the initial harvest, the roots frequently generate more lettuce leaves that you may use as a second harvest after cutting the entire head at once.
Leaf lettuce should be harvested in the morning to preserve its flavorful, fresh, crisp leaves. Young lettuce can be picked early in the morning to avoid drying out in the sun.
If you delay until the late afternoon or evening, the leaves could be slightly wilted. Wait till the following day to harvest if you forgot to do so in the morning.
The mature romaine leaf can reach a height of 8 inches and is typically a dark green color.
Remove 6–8 of the lettuce head’s mature outermost leaves to extend the harvest.
Because the interior leaves take about a week to 10 days to mature, you will notice the advantage that you can significantly lengthen your harvest.
The drawback in this situation is that every successive harvest will be less than the initial one.
Using a firm twisting of the leaf stem, remove the romaine leaves.
To remove a single romaine leaf from the plant, grip it at the bottom and twist it down violently until you sense the leaf separate from the plant.
Harvested leaves should be rinsed before storing them in the refrigerator for up to ten days. To accomplish this, remove the outer leaves from your romaine plants.
Rinse leaves in cool running water to remove dirt. After patting them dry, put them in a plastic bag and put them in the fridge.
How Can I Tell When Romaine Lettuce Is Suitable for Picking (for more information about lettuce, read here)?
Fresh romaine lettuce, with its thick, luxurious leaves, can be the perfect complement to a salad. Its crisp and delicious taste makes it a great choice.
However, if you pick it before it’s ready, the leaves may taste bitter and woody rather than soft. Prior to planting, you can educate yourself on the phases of romaine lettuce development and harvesting.
Growth Of Romaine Lettuce
When grown from seeds, romaine lettuce matures in three months. When fully grown, the leaves are open and dark green.
When romaine lettuce reaches its full growth, but before it becomes ripe, it must be harvested.
Learning how to harvest romaine lettuce regardless of the species would be best. By cutting the lettuce’s outer leaves, you may harvest the plant before it matures.
If you do this, leaves in the middle will keep expanding.
You can also dig up the entire plant or make the incision around an inch above the ground. It all depends on how much lettuce you need.
If you dig the entire plant, pull hard upward from the lettuce head’s base. The plant as a whole will become loose. Be mindful that morning is the ideal time to gather romaine.
A second harvest of lettuce is possible if you correctly harvest the plant.
For the greatest quality, use it right away after harvesting. Head lettuce can be kept in the refrigerator for up to two weeks.
How Does Romaine Lettuce Regrow?
You can only renew a partial head of lettuce, but you can grow a few leaves, unlike how you can regrow green onions or celery. Before developing into a complete head of lettuce, regrown lettuce tends to bolt.
Use these techniques to produce lettuce from a purchased plant:
- Eat the lettuce you bought and slice the leaves about 1 or 2 inches from the bottom.
- Put the cut-off stem portion in a bowl of water only about half an inch deep.
- Place this near grow lights or on your windowsill.
- Each one to two days, change your water.
- You might see roots coming out from the ground.
- Your lettuce will reach its maximum size after 10–12 days.
- Use the cut-and-come technique for the growth of romaine lettuce.
- Cut the head of your romaine whenever it begins to show indications of blossoming so that the remaining portion stands about two inches in height in the ground.
When you water normally, you will notice a couple of new heads growing. While it may take several weeks, this is a superior technique for obtaining a secondary harvest from a single plant.
How Can Romaine Lettuce Be Prevented From Bolting?
Plant green lettuce throughout the spring to avoid bolting.
From then on, you can keep harvesting romaine lettuce all year long because it stops bolting and gives you lettuce leaves throughout most of the summer.
It is best to grow head lettuce varieties like Iceberg in the fall so they can develop as the weather becomes cooler. You may also plant lettuce in the shade to protect it from the sun and extreme heat.
Due to the crop’s lack of full energy, this prevents bolting, which results in stunted growth.
Final Thoughts
We hope that this article has provided you with some useful information about how to harvest your own romaine lettuce.
Many health benefits are associated with romaine lettuce, so it’s a great idea to learn how to grow your supply.
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