Plus, I have bitter lettuce every year. Even when I didn’t spray any herbicides.
Just try directly sowing your seeds in March once the ground thaws with good fertilizer applied. Remember to water once temps get into the 70’s when there isn’t any rain. It’s what I’ve done every year and my lettuce tastes delicious. Also consider trying the varieties I mentioned.
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I stopped direct sowing because the weeds tend to grow faster than the lettuce and I just can’t keep up with it.
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The description is consistent with a problem with the soil and/or a problem with culture. However, you have not listed the varieties grown. Consider ordering seed of a good variety such as the suggestions above and see if the paradigm changes. To give an example, I won’t grow black seeded simpson because it gets bitter and bolts. High temperatures are the primary culprit. Jericho is the opposite with sweet flavor even into July.
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Jericho is such a trooper for hot weather. Not my favorite lettuce, but better than average and the only one I’ve found that works well into the 90s.
@BG1977, too much Nitrogen can also be a cause of bitter lettuce. Do you fertilize heavily?
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Sylvesta
Little Gem
Buttercrunch (least bitter)
Nevada
Winter Density
If you plant a little lettuce seed every 3weeks or -~ sow…".
You should have lettuce in good condition …some where…
Always … ?
Give or take a little …
It’s usually not just plant. lettuce once for the season…
(" unless you just want to eat lettuce for a short time .?.)
I try to eat greens everyday …
So ,
Need to plant lettuce often,
Other greens fill the gaps
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Gotcha, everything just seemed to have a herbicide issue.
I also grow and second all the varieties @PharmerDrewee reccomended and really think you do need to do successive sowings to get a good greens bed going. Maybe some shade or shade cloth would help. Buttercrunch and little gem are pretty good here also. Have you thought about mache or other summer greens?
I was going to say the opposite of jc and say that too much phosphorous can make bitter lettuce also.
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Lots of people recommend shade for summer lettuce, I spent a bunch of money on shadecloth to cover rows and just got stretched out lettuce that didn’t weigh as much as the stuff in full sun. At least I have it for hail protection, lol.
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I 2nd Mache. It’s a tasty leafy green but might be too late for you to start that until the fall again. Some chards are also nice and tender enough for fresh greens and those never go bitter for me. I have a diversity of greens that I go through.
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I do successive crops with lettuce.
How much organic matter is in your soil? Here muck soil is often drained to create great conditions for lettuce in a soil close to 30% organic matter.
This is just a stab in the dark because, to me, lettuce is a spring vegetable that gets bitter under strong sun. However, organic matter increases the amount of available water substantially in case it is short periods of drought that are making your lettuce bitter. Pinetree garden seeds does carry a decent summer lettuce which I grow just to have for sandwiches, but spring is the time of “salad days”.
I have heads of lettuce out there right now that I bought as starters about 2 months ago. The cool spring held them back a couple of weeks but it takes a very hard frost to kill lettuce.
Have you tried Nevada?
I tried Muir from Johnny’s last year, liked it a lot
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I always grow the Pinetree lettuce mix. It is easy and gives me a nice cutting salad garden for weeks on end.
This mix has a uniquely American twist, however; they are all leaf lettuces and all sweet varieties. The mix will contain most of the loose-leaf varieties in the catalog and nearly a dozen others.
Scott
I have not, but I’ve spent time in Nevada, so I hope it’d be up to the task with a name like that.
A few months ago, when my Maule’s Pennsylvania butterhead lettuce bolted, I kept picking leaves from it and was surprised that they weren’t very bitter, if at all. I had it growing in containers(mid afternoon shade), and in a raised bed garden(morning shade, afternoon sun).
Hillbillyhort, how does your Red Sails lettuce do in hot weather?
("how does your Red Sails lettuce do in hot weather? ")
It does better than any other lettuce that I have tried so far.
I usually give up during July - Aug. just too hot
But usually eat it all the other months of the year
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