Are you a nature person? Who loves to grow plants and spend time with them. In your long list of growing various kinds of plants, is romaine lettuce one of them? Then this is for you! Here you will learn about how to harvest romaine lettuce.
1. Romaine Lettuce
Before knowing how to harvest romaine lettuce plants, first see what romaine lettuce is. There are various types of lettuce, romaine lettuce is one of the most important among them.
It’s easy to grow! They have a sturdy, elongated leaf compact head, and firm rib centre. They have dark green leaves. Romaine leaves are also crisp and stiff. They are narrow and long and have a coarse and crisp texture.
1.1 Common Names of Romaine Lettuce
In North America, many refer to the romaine lettuce heads as “hearts”. Like that, it has various names:
- Cos
- Butterhead
- Leaf lettuce
- Lactuca sativa
1.2 Varieties of Roman Lettuce
Heading lettuce and looseleaf lettuce are the two types of romaine lettuce. They are not of a single variety, there are various romaine varieties:
- Flashy Trout’s Back: Flashy Trout’s Back has an amazing appearance of green and red speckles. It has an open head. It will provide the crisp leaves you expect!
- Valmaine: Valmaine has a bright lime-green appearance. It is the most heat tolerant among all the other romaine lettuce varieties. It will produce large heads that can feed a whole large family!
- Truchas: Truchas leaves are dark green in the tip and lime green in the middle. It produces small heads, which are enough for small families or single people.
- Winter Density: Winter Density is the most cold-tolerant variety of romaine lettuce. This variety of lettuce would be useful for people who live in northern climates.
- Little Gem: This variety is known for its small size. It also has a sweet flavour. It will grow in your little garden space or a container.
- Cimmaron: Cimmaron leaves are dark red-purple, and their base is green in colour.
- Parris Island: Parris Island is the most commonly used variety among the cultivators. This produces dark green, crispy leaves in a large amount.
- Romaine Rouge d’Hiver: Romaine Rouge d’Hiver has deep red leaves. If you want colorful lettuce for your salad. Romaine Rouge d’Hiver is the one for you!
- Crispino: Crispino produces medium size lettuce heads. It is perfect to cultivate in both fall and spring as they are tolerant in both seasons.
These are some of the romaine varieties.
1.3 Common Romaine Lettuce Seeds Varieties Used by Cultivators
Even though there are various varieties of romaine lettuce seeds, some are commonly used by the cultivators; they are:
- Organic parris island
- Freckles
- Little gem
- Organic super red
- Cimmaron
1.4 Nutritional Benefits
Romaine lettuce has various benefits. It is higher in minerals and vitamins and lower in carbohydrates and calories. It has approximately 8 calories, 1.5g of carbohydrates, 1g of fibre, 0.6g of protein, and the total fat is 0.1g. Let’s see its health benefits in detail:
- Romaine Lettuce contains calcium, which will help in our muscle & nerve function, building & maintaining our bones.
- Lettuce also contains phosphorous, which helps build strong teeth and bones.
- Romaine Lettuce has magnesium which helps in relaxing muscles in our body. Magnesium also works with calcium in building tissue.
- It contains potassium which is an electrolyte and has various functions in our body which including muscle contraction, nerve function, and movement of cells, and helps in a regular heartbeat.
- It also contains various vitamins which include vitamin C. Vitamin C is rich in antioxidants and supports our immune system.
- Lettuce has vitamin K which is essential for blood clotting after an injury takes place in our body. Along with calcium helps in preventing mineral loss of bones.
- It also has vitamin A which helps in reproductive health and cell growth. It improves eye-related problems. Also helps in maintaining kidneys, heart, and lungs.
2. How to Grow Romaine Lettuce
Before knowing how to harvest romaine lettuce, let’s see how to grow it. Are you someone who has never grown a vegetable but desperately wants to grow romaine lettuce? Don’t worry about anything. Just follow the below-mentioned guidelines.
2.1 What to Use: Seeds or Plants
As lettuce-related plants grow quickly, both options are plentiful. You sow romaine lettuce seeds and harvest them within a period. But if you want it in the spring season, you can use romaine seedlings of romaine lettuce, and you can get amazing salads quickly.
2.2 When to Plant
Your next question might be, what is the right time to plant romaine lettuce? Romaine lettuce can tolerate moderate temperatures and grow in it, unlike other vegetables. It can grow when the weather is cooler, in fall or early spring. So, depending on the climate, the planting time will vary.
- If your area has mild winter, start growing romaine lettuce two to four weeks before the last frost. The range of soil temperature is important for germination, and it should be around 40-75 degrees Fahrenheit.
- During the fall period, start growing romaine lettuce around 6-8 weeks before the first fall. In the fall harvest, before the lower temperature comes, it will grow into a mature plant. Around 55-70 degrees Fahrenheit, it will grow well in this period.
2.3 General Requirements
To develop crisp leaves, it needs at least 6 hours of sunlight each day. It can tolerate shade, especially during the hotter season of the year, as afternoon shade prevents overexposure to sunlight as it affects its leaves.
Romaine lettuce grows in soil that contains high organic matter. The soil PH should be around 6-7. The soil should have all the basic requirements for the lettuce to grow before planting.
2.4 Where to Grow
Crisp romaine lettuce grows well under some conditions. Good air circulation is required for its growth and to make the plant disease-free. Appropriate spacing is required for the pants to grow individually well.
Even though it needs space, it doesn’t occupy a large amount. Thus, you can grow romaine lettuce in your backyard or balcony in small spaces itself.
2.5 Steps Involved in Growing Romaine Lettuce
Start growing romaine lettuce plants in your garden by following some simple methods and conditions that are cost-effective.
Selection of Seed: High-quality lettuce seeds are required to grow romaine lettuce. You can get it from your nearby seed suppliers. Select the lettuce seed packet which has flavour profiles to your preferences, adequate maturity time, climate and disease resistance, etc.
Prepare the Containers: You can use various containers peat pots, seed trays, etc. It should have drainage holes to ensure equal oxygen supply to roots.
Planting Seeds and Germination: The seed mixture should have all the requirements for the growth of romaine lettuce. Moisten this mixture before placing it in the container.
2.5.1 Step By Step Process of Growing Romaine Lettuce
a. Start sowing 2-3 romaine lettuce seeds in the container and press them deeply about 0.6-1.3 cm. Now cover this with a layer of seed starting mixture. It needs light to grow, so don’t cover it too much.
b. Maintain this container at a temperature of around 15-21 degrees Celsius. Make sure this temperature is consistent for adequate growth.
c. Watering the plants is essential for their growth. You should water them by placing them in a water-filled tray as it absorbs water through the drainage holes. Make sure not too much is absorbed.
d. Within 7-14 days, the lettuce seeds germinate. Once the seedling reached 1 inch, keep the strongest one and remove all the weaker ones. Maintaining the required temperature is necessary for its adequate growth.
e. Before the seedlings grow 7-10 cm tall expose them to the outer atmosphere. Don’t show it directly to the sunlight, first expose it in a sheltered location. Then gradually expose it to sunlight.
f. If it reaches the required height, which is around 7-10 cm, they are ready to be transplanted into the garden. Choose a location that will provide sun and partial shade.
3. Nurturing of Romaine Lettuce
For the romaine lettuce plant to grow healthy, you should nurture it well. Your job doesn’t end after transplantation is done. It begins after that. To nurture your lettuce plants, follow the below-mentioned guidelines.
- Are you eager to see the crispy leaves of romaine lettuce plants in your garden? For that, the first thing you have to do is water it regularly.
- To avoid over-watering, try using drip irrigation, which makes soil consistently moist and leaves evenly without overwetting it. This also reduces the risk of getting disease.
- For the plants to get a continuous supply of nutrients, don’t forget to give them fertilizers at the required time throughout the growing season.
- Always look for weeds because they will affect the growth. So, don’t forget to remove it regularly.
- Practice hygiene while handling the plants to avoid any diseases.
After all this, your grown lettuces are ready to harvest. Follow the above practices to get the fantastic lettuce leaves that you’re longing for!
4. Final Note
You have fresh romaine lettuce stored in the fridge by now. What to do with it? What a stupid question, cooking it and making dishes with it! You might have put that in the salad bowl by now to make Caesar salads.
After harvesting, you’ll have your romaine lettuce in your hands. For getting nutritious, disease-free, and fresh lettuce make sure to follow the above guidelines. Now you can grow your romaine lettuce in your garden itself, you don’t need to buy lettuce in the stores and worry about its quality!
Last Updated on by parinaparmar
