Question About Lettuce

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aries44 Miami, FL(Zone 10b) Feb 12, 2006

Looking for some info for a novice lettuce grower:

As lettuce gets older and starts to grow vertical are the leaves still OK to eat? I snipped some leaves off of several plants, and at the cut, there was a milky fluid oozing out. The leaves look fine but are they OK to eat? Thanks for any info.

Flip

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tardigrade Palo Alto, CA Feb 12, 2006

I tried it once. As the lettuce starts to bolt - the plant wants to send up a flower stalk and produce seeds - the leaves get rather bitter.

As far as I know, this bolting comes afterthe plant gets a certain amount of daylight, and there's no way to stop it. The recommended thing to do is sow lettuce every couple of weeks, so you'll have a constant supply. I'm not familiar with your region - I'm still trying to translate garden books for northern California - so I don't know how well your lettuce will do in the summer. Around here it's grown commercially close to the coast so it gets the summer coolness and fog.

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aries44 Miami, FL(Zone 10b) Feb 12, 2006

Thanks tardigrade. I guess my real question is: Is the lettuce with the milky oozings ok to eat even if it's bitter? Thx,

Flip

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MitchF Lindsay, OK(Zone 7a) Feb 12, 2006

It is ok to eat - just does not taste the best.

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aries44 Miami, FL(Zone 10b) Feb 12, 2006

Thanks, Mitch

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