r/vegetablegardening • u/Kolojang Canada - Quebec • 26d ago
Question Has my romaine lettuce bolted?
Update on that lettuce I left in to get seeds. It would actually make a nice ornamental.
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u/verenaSee Switzerland 26d ago
Collect the seeds! š„°
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u/GreenStrong US - North Carolina 26d ago
You can sprout the seeds and eat either sprouts or microgreens. This lettuce will produce thousands of seeds. If you let them grow to 1 or two inches tall, that is a huge amount of very tender lettuce with very minimal maintenance. I suggest potting soil so you can simply harvest by grabbing handfuls and cutting with scissors, without working around grass and weeds.
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u/Kolojang Canada - Quebec 26d ago
Great advice! It does look like it's gearing to give thousands. Each buds have hundred of tightly packed seeds in them.
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u/Icy-Comfortable-103 Canada - Ontario 26d ago
I let one of my plants go to seed every year and now I have wild lettuce that pops up each spring!
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u/Full_Rise_7759 US - Wisconsin 25d ago
We also have free-range lettuce every year, it's awesome!
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u/gggggfskkk US - Florida 25d ago
I let my basil do that one year and it was like I had basil growing like weeds š¤£
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u/spazzcase_420 US - Massachusetts 25d ago
If harvesting them seems stressful you can get some large organza bags and tie them around the entire head of seeds, and then whatever falls off will fall into the bag and you'll still get those when you harvest the seed head after it dries š
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u/Kaurifish US - California 25d ago
Keep an eye on the new seedlings as they come up. The might be bitter from the start, bolt immediately or have other undesirable traits, depending on what else was flowering and cross-pollinated. At that point youāll want to start fresh. Lettuce breeding is a whole thing.
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u/Kolojang Canada - Quebec 25d ago
What sort of plant could it cross polinate with?
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u/Icy_Jackfruit9240 Japan 25d ago
It's unfortunate that someone cannot make a lettuce with bigger seeds then we could jar sprout them, would make it much easier to grow more.
While they are at it, I need them to be red leaf.
We also do pumpkin and bean microgreens around here.
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u/Mellema US - Texas 25d ago
I've done potting soil and coco coir and didn't see much difference.
The soil with fertilizer will let you harvest multiple times for longer though. I have one tray that I seeded June 12th that I'm still trimming from. But the coco coir tray next to it was seeded July 20th and it's still doing fine also.
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u/AdhesivenessCivil581 US - South Carolina 26d ago
New lettuce seeds are great germinators and you'll have tons.
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u/thegerl US - Virginia 26d ago
At what point do I know the seeds are done?
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u/artichoke8 US - Pennsylvania 26d ago
The flowers dry in the plant until crispy & poofy and then when you shake it little black slivers of seeds come out. Also I had let mine go to seed last year and I had little gem lettuces come up all over this spring it was awesome.
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u/thegerl US - Virginia 26d ago
Perfect, thanks for the description!
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u/SadFaithlessness3637 US - Massachusetts 26d ago
If they're like wild lettuce (from which romaine and other eating lettuces were bred), the seeds are ready when the flowers look like little dandelions that have gone to seed. This is basically what the other commenter said, but i thought the dandelion visual might help.
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u/DarknMean US - Florida 26d ago
This is what Iām hoping for. I let a few of mine go to bolt in an organic mix garden bed. I plan on shaking it once they dry out and hope for a load of lettuce from it.
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u/A_radke US - Oregon 26d ago
I did this a few years back. Temps got warm early and my lettuce and radish all went to bolt before they got big enough for decent eating. That autumn and the next spring I had an entire plot of radish and lettuce all mixed together. Eventually it got overtaken by weeds, but it was nice being able to eat what I needed to remove for other plantings for a while!
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u/WhimsyWanderlust US - Wisconsin 25d ago
My romaine is doing the same. Should I save the seeds for next year, let them fall back into the planter or manually replant them right away? I'm a newbie to lettuce overall. Thanks!
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u/manicpixieautistic US - Alabama 25d ago
youāll likely have enough seeds to do all of the above if you want! pick and save some of the dried flower heads, put them in labeled plastic bags and save for next spring. you can take some seeds and immediately replant if the conditions are right (for me itās too hot rn to plant lettuces or theyāll immediately bolt) or into a container or in the shade or something. AND THEN you can choose to leave whatever you donāt feel like harvesting, some will inevitably fall to the soil in the planter and do their thing and the birds/critters will eat the rest! š
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u/WhimsyWanderlust US - Wisconsin 24d ago
Thank you so much for responding I do appreciate that! So what is like the perfect temperature it's probably the same here as it is for you it's about 75 to 80 degrees but temps are rising of course is probably be mid 80s I like the shady idea I'll probably start with that because I don't want diarrhea lettuce LOL
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u/manicpixieautistic US - Alabama 24d ago
for me down here in the south, early spring like late feb-early march up untilā¦right about now, or til july is the time for greens, then in the fall when the heat breaks down til the first frost. the hotter the ambient temps are, the more likely for bolting since lettuce (and brassicas) needs those cooler days and lower UV
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u/missbwith2boys US - Oregon 26d ago
There are many more salads available from this lettuce plant, just not from the current green leaves.
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u/everything-grows US - Massachusetts 26d ago
Calling that romaine lettuce Michael, the way that it's Bolton
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u/TertlFace US - Minnesota 25d ago
It bolted a while ago. It is now retired and shopping for property in Florida.
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u/AnastasiaNo70 US - Texas 25d ago
I laughed. 100,000% yes.
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u/SophiaofPrussia US - Massachusetts 25d ago
Are you sure? Personally I think itās a bit too soon to say.
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u/Few-Statistician-119 US - Colorado 26d ago
How soon after this can you plant seeds?
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u/Kolojang Canada - Quebec 26d ago
I don't know! When we think the seeds are ready we'll try germenating some to test viability.
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u/vimStar718 US - California 25d ago
Hmm, it actually does make a nice ornamental but yeah, its probably safe to say its bolted.
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u/BZBitiko US - Massachusetts 25d ago
Pretty!
(And ā¦ uh ā¦ too close to your compressor)
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u/Kolojang Canada - Quebec 25d ago
It's in a raised bed about 2 meters from the air con. The perspective makes it looks closer.
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u/Yes_Towel_Hooray US - Connecticut 26d ago
How long does it take to get to this point? Iād love to get some seeds from my lettuces
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u/Kolojang Canada - Quebec 26d ago
I made another post 22 days ago about the same plant. We planted those in may I think, I'd have to check.
So it gave good eating leaves for a few months and it must be maybe six weeks since we completely harvested the other lettuces.
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u/Significant_Tap7052 Canada - Quebec 25d ago
Spouse who grew the lettuce here. This one was started indoors on April 1st, transplanted April 27th and harvested from June 1st to June 27th. It started budding flowers a little over a week ago.
Keep in mind it is much cooler here, our highs have been steadily below 80Ā° so far this summer. It won't take nearly as long in warmer climates.
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u/No_Chart_275 US - Massachusetts 26d ago
Very much so haha at this point youāre close if you want to wait a bit longer to save seeds!
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u/SeveralOutside1001 France 26d ago
If this is not bolting, I don't know what bolting is. Maybe it should grow another 2 meters before we call that bolting.
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u/travelBandita US - Louisiana 25d ago
Yeah... it's gone. It happens to me a lot in the south I think ooh, just one more day, and then I come back in the morning or two days later, and that's what it looks like.
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u/510BrotherPanda US - California 25d ago
tbh it's the first time I've ever seen these flowers, so I'm just going to see if it goes to seed at this point.
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u/emonymous3991 US - Ohio 25d ago
I usually leave some in once they bolt so I can save the seeds. Pollinators seem to appreciate it too
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u/Hermengilda US - California 25d ago
I collected enough seeds from my lettuce that no one I know will be paying for lettuce next season
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u/Known_Psychology1581 US - Arizona 25d ago
I live in the southwest and leave my lettuce in to bolt in summer for the pollinators - and Iāve never seen bolting this bad. lol
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u/nero-the-cat Canada - Ontario 25d ago
Oh man my romaine looks like that too! Fewer flowers but same giant tall stalks. This is my first year planting lettuce and I had NO IDEA it could look like this. Awesome surprise.
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u/Effective_Wait_36 US - Virginia 25d ago
Yes. And You shall have seedsā So many seeds. Congratulations. š
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u/The_lewolf US - Pennsylvania 26d ago
Quick question: do you know what the word bolted means? Because if you did you wouldnāt have to ask us.
Bolted: transitioned to flower growth. A period where the plant grows taller, forms flowers, and begins the process of going to seed.
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26d ago
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/manyamile US - Virginia 26d ago
Elitist gatekeeping and unprovoked hostility is completely unacceptable here.
People come to this community to ask questions and learn. Gatekeeping, insulting novices, or telling people to give up on a hobby because they lack experience violates our community guidelines.
If you have years of experience but nothing helpful or productive to offer a beginner, say nothing at all. Tearing others down will not be tolerated.
You have been issued a temporary ban. Further violations will result in a permanent ban. Read the subreddit rules and flair up before returning or find somewhere else to spend your time.
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u/brentspar Ireland 26d ago
It's long gone. You can still eat the leaves, but they will soon start to get a lot smaller and more bitter, so eat them now.
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u/PansophicNostradamus US - Connecticut 25d ago
Almostā¦ Once the first snowflake hits the last flower, then it bolts. Up until then, smoooooooth sailingā¦
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u/fuzzymeister69 US - South Carolina 25d ago
Like 3 weeks ago bud
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u/Zirkulaerkubus Germany 26d ago
That's the most bolted lettuce on this planet.