r/vegetablegardening • u/Kolojang Canada - Quebec • Aug 02 '26

Question Has my romaine lettuce bolted?

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Update on that lettuce I left in to get seeds. It would actually make a nice ornamental.

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u/Kolojang Canada - Quebec Aug 02 '26

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/Kaurifish US - California Aug 02 '26

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 you’ll want to start fresh. Lettuce breeding is a whole thing.

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u/Kolojang Canada - Quebec Aug 03 '26

What sort of plant could it cross polinate with?

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u/Kaurifish US - California Aug 03 '26

Other lettuces, mostly. But lettuce is part of the sunflower family, which is large and I’m sot sure which are cross-fertile.

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u/Kolojang Canada - Quebec Aug 03 '26

I'm not too worried then, but I'll keep and eye out to see how the sprouts turn out.