So far terrible lettuce year
 

When you live this far south lettuce season runs from fall into late spring. This year has been a disaster for lettuce so far. In the fall the plants set out didn't grow very fast and then when the really cold weather hit it looks like most of them even under hoops were killed or severely damaged. The new replacements I set out since have not done anything much either. It is really odd because spinach and lettuce were both set out the same week yet the spinach has grown like crazy since it was transplanted while the lettuce has struggled. They both got the same treatment as far as watering and fertilizing. This is the first year since I have been growing lettuce through the winter that I have had no lettuce by the first of the year. I usually start picking lettuce between Thanksgiving and Christmas with no let up until the hot weather gets here in the spring. I have got one more batch of lettuce seedlings to set out in the next week or so and if they don't do anything I'm not going to try anymore this year.

Bill

It was so cold out here (Bay Area), that our much of our Spigariello and Ethiopian Kale was freeze-killed, which never happens.

I've noticed similar things. My lettuce is just "tough." No other way to describe it. The texture is off. Don't know why. Mine was slow to reach full size and still seems stunted. This is Winter Density, which I've grown before. My spinach never took off at all this past fall, though I had fantastic spinach last spring. Spring was "Giant Noble" and fall was "Winter Giant."

I have given up for now but am ready to start again the first of March with leaf, butter and romaine. I think I'll start them inside this year so I can get them in and out quickly. I want to start my zucchini and squash in these same beds as early as possible to avoid SVB damage.

My other greens, which normally like a frost, look pretty beaten up. Collards, kale and turnips are damaged by prolonged cold, I think. Edges are brown and curled up. I've never seen this before. My irrigation was winterized a few weeks ago so I haven't watered but it's not been dry here.

Are you growing for yourself or for market? head lettuce or leaf? I live in a very different climate but I find cos or head lettuce doesn't transplant here very well unless grown to quite large seedlings. (like almost half grown) 6-8 inches tall in big cell packs.
I have much better luck with direct sown leaf lettuces which grow so lush and fast I can't keep up. Another thing to try would be to direct sow cos or head lettuce very sparsely and thin to correct spacing rather than trying to transplant. might be worth an experiment to see if it does better direct sown.
KarenO

I grew hydroponic lettuce outside using rafts and it has done very well. It got down to 26 Fahrenheit in December, when I bent the lettuce, it was stiff. I thought for sure it wouldn't live but I was amazed how well it did. My pak choi, kale, simpson curled and adriana all pulled through.

I planted lettuce and pak choi in Earthtainers and they have grown at 1/3 the speed of the hydroponics. I just planted my second batch of lettuce and pak choi in the raft, I expect it will be ready in a month. If you haven't tried hydroponics for lettuce you should give it a shot you will be amazed at the results. My wife took two heads of lettuce and people were amazed at the size and taste, store bought pales in comparison.

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The holes are 12 inches apart for reference and I do use an air stone. The last picture shows you don't need an air stone using the kraky method.

Happy Gardening!

- Scott

My lettuce isn't as awesome as Virtex's, but it's doing fine out on the back patio in SIP herb troughs. I'm finding the "earthy" taste it gets when the container runs wet to be unpleasant enough that I'm looking at alternative methods for spring, but my family doesn't even notice.

Nothing much grew from September to December out there -- there was just no sun. And it's still soggy out there. But there's a lot of green leafy stuff out there now.

I stopped feeling bad about my 2013 lettuce and started my 2014 lettuce indoors. I have Tom Thumb, Red Leprechaun, Little Gem, Rossimo, Gold Rush, Oakleaf and Bronze Mignonette. Rossimo and Gold Rush are new to me this year. Hoping to move them all outside the second week of March or so.

Thanks for the hydro pics, Virtex.

That trim board is holding down the edge of a pond liner, right? That would have been a smart idea for my setup.

Did you build a drain into the table, or do you just bail it out? It's hard to make a drain that doesn't leak.

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;390094]Thanks for the hydro pics, Virtex.

That trim board is holding down the edge of a pond liner, right? That would have been a smart idea for my setup.

Did you build a drain into the table, or do you just bail it out? It's hard to make a drain that doesn't leak.[/QUOTE]

Yes, on the trim board. I used 6 mil plastic, no need to buy expensive pond liner.

No drain, too hard like you say to keep it from leaking. You can just use an old hose and siphon the water out, or bail it out.

My setup is similar. I put it on the ground, though, in an effort to keep the nute solution from getting too hot on the days the greenhouse gets hot. My bottom is pea gravel with sand on top of it, so I used a pond liner to be extra safe.

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I really like using a water pump for aeration. The reservoir water gets pumped into a simple pvc manifold and sprays down into itself.

It has been a great lettuce year for me.
The Boston, Ice burg Romaine, butter head and so much more has been coming in faster than I can eat it.

[SIZE=1]At the grocery store.8-)
[/SIZE]

Terrible year for me as well. I lost what little Lettuce I had growing when it got down to 18 degrees. I have hoops over my raised beds but they didn't do much good. I suppose I need to heat them somehow for next winter. This year, the lettuce just never took off. I lost my Cauliflower and Broccoli. My Spinach is just now starting to grow some and the cabbage and carrots have grown very very slowly. I think we just have had to few sunny days. The worst winter Central Alabama has ever had that I can remember.

[QUOTE=brianccarr;390212]Terrible year for me as well. I lost what little Lettuce I had growing when it got down to 18 degrees. I have hoops over my raised beds but they didn't do much good. I suppose I need to heat them somehow for next winter. This year, the lettuce just never took off. I lost my Cauliflower and Broccoli. My Spinach is just now starting to grow some and the cabbage and carrots have grown very very slowly. I think we just have had to few sunny days. The worst winter Central Alabama has ever had that I can remember.[/QUOTE]

I started using much taller hoops a couple of years ago but it takes 10ft plastic to go over them so it can get a bit pricey. I use the standard gray pvc conduit and cut off the flared end and just stick one end on one side of the bed and bend it and push the other end down into the opposite side of the bed. I space them about 5 ft apart. The hoops then stand over 3 ft high so they hold in a little more heat than my old ones that were only about 2 ft high. Despite the larger hoops I lost most of my broccoli and some of my cabbage and half my lettuce under the hoops in that bad arctic blast this year. The Brussels sprouts, spinach and cilantro did fine despite the cold.

I have new lettuce, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower ready to set out as soon as the rain lets up latter this week. I am putting them in a bed without the hoops so I hope we get no more of those arctic blasts this year. This is the first year since I started gardening that I've had more spinach salads than lettuce salads.

Bill

Well it has gone from near freezing two nights ago to hitting the 80s in the day time so my spinach and lettuce are getting ready to bolt. I went ahead and removed all of my spinach this morning and sent off 4 bags of it for my wife to give to her coworkers. I'm really sick of spinach after eating it almost weekly since late fall. In over 30 years of growing spinach I have never had such a bumper crop. My spring lettuce has done much better than my fall and winter lettuce but now that hot days are here it won't last long. I don't grow any of the lettuces that do well in hot weather so my spring lettuce season is very short. I'm ready for some tomatoes and peppers but I'll have to wait since this cold weather has set me back about a month. This is the first year I can remember not having a single tomato set out in March.

Bill

Pulled my spinach up last night, blanched and froze it. Looks like mine bolted already. After sitting in the hoop houses all winter stalled, the sun came out they grew faster than I could keep up with. Tomatoes going out Sunday.