Lettuce

I have some looseleaf lettuce planted. I've been picking the larger leaves as the plants have grown and we've had wonderful salads. A couple of the plants started to flower so I cut off the whole plant. A friend told me that I could pinch the flower off and get more growth out of it. Can I do that without the leaves getting bitter? If I can, can I do it more than once? Thanks! Margaret

I don't know, but I am eager to learn the answer. You could go ahead and do it on some, and do a taste test...

TamaraFaye, I posted this question on the Vegetable Garden Forum and got some helpful information. Pinching the flowers off did not make the leaves bitter and it did extend the plant for awhile. What I found happening was the leaves started getting "tighter" so that I have since harvested the whole lettuce plant of some, but others are still going. Margaret

thanks for the info... :)

My experience with lettuce is once it starts it's flower stalk, eating quality goes down. Of course you can still eat it, but in my experience, the leaves get bitter, there is a bitter white liquid that oozes out of any cut area and it generally deteriorates in quality. Here where I garden, it's usually because it's getting too hot and/or too dry. Still edible but not the fresh, tender lovely green lettuce we gardener's go to so much effort for.

Roseone33 - I agree that the leaves aren't quite as fresh and tender as when the plant is younger, but I've not found any bitterness. The problem of the "white ooze" was addressed when I posted this on the Vegetable Forum and I was told that dunking the lettuce in cold water will turn it clear. I do think it must be the heat that causes the bitterness, because I haven't had a problem this season with the Buttercrunch and I have sniped off some of the flowers and let them continue to grow. As I mentioned to TamaraFaye, the leaves got "tighter", but still better quality than I'd get in the grocery store. Margaret

Home grown is always better, imo, so I also would rather eat my less than perfect produce than God knows what or how old shipped in from far away.