Topic: Lettuce - Little gem

[Linnea]

I've tried for the first time this year to grow little gem lettuces. had almost a complete failure all year!

first sowing 0% germination - put that down to the soil being too cold.

second and third sowing reasonable number of plants however not great considering whole packet of seeds into 2ft row!
but they've not grown very well and don't produce the usual little gem head - more of a loose leaf

what am I doing wrong?

the soil is very light/sandy/slightly acidic. I watered during hot spells

is there a better type of lettuce I should be growing?

[busy_lizzie]

Hi, I always grow my lettuces in seed trays first, and repot when they get a good size and then plant them out when they are well rooted. All my lettuces were a great success, but I think if I didn't do them this way they wouldn't be as good. I know it is a bit labour intensive, but worth it I think. busy_lizzie

[Bugloss2009]

little gems do well for me at the start and end of the season and struggle a bit in the heat of summer, when they often don't heart up. The cut and come again types like salad bowl do well all year. and iceberg types grow best in the main season. The problem with icebergs is that they take longer to grow and aren't really suited for picking small like gem types

I grow all mine in modules, though I think in the main part of the season direct sowing is probably better

[macmac]

I always grow some little gem 'tho I prefer the bigger cos types.This year during hot spells they were difficult to germinate as I believe most lettuce don't like a too high temp during germination.
I always sow a pinch of seed in a pot/tray then prick out to cell packs before finally planting out.When I'm feeling diciplined I sow,prick out and plant out same day,that is when the cell pack plants are ready to go out,the seedlings should be ready to prick out and I sow another pinch of seed .Clever eh  ;D 'trouble is half the time I forget or the seed doesn't germinate or the slugs/sparrows get me seedlings  :(
Remind me again why we do this  ??? ??? ??? ;D

[Chrispy]

I sow in plugs or pots on my auto-waterer in my greenhouse, that keeps the compost wet, works very reliably.

I grew little gem because my OH used to buy little gem hearts, but I found they do take a lot of time to heart up, and there is a lot more loose leaf then the ones you see in the shops.

I don't think I am doing anthing wrong, as my plants look like the pic on the seed packet, so I assume shop bought plants are heavily trimmed.

[Linnea]

Thanks all. I'll try sowing in the greenhouse for next year and a pinch of cut and comeagain for the summer months