Not sure if I mentioned this before, but most Farmers trying to grow lettuce in Summer use overhead irrigation and water several times a day especially during hot weather. I also recall Curtis Stone trying to use shade cloth on his lettuce and not being successful. Ray Tyler in Tennessee has been very successful at growing salad mix during the summer and where he is located can get up to a hundred degrees. I actually have bought the irrigation to try his method, but have yet to have time to install it. Perhaps next year. I wish you the best of luck.

[QUOTE=BigVanVader;701538]Not sure if I mentioned this before, but most Farmers trying to grow lettuce in Summer use overhead irrigation and water several times a day especially during hot weather. I also recall Curtis Stone trying to use shade cloth on his lettuce and not being successful. Ray Tyler in Tennessee has been very successful at growing salad mix during the summer and where he is located can get up to a hundred degrees. I actually have bought the irrigation to try his method, but have yet to have time to install it. Perhaps next year. I wish you the best of luck.[/QUOTE]


Vader... yep using misters here to cool the lettuce down. I think the 50% shade is just too shady. I got very leggy growth. All though I will say the Mustard Greens looked pretty good, but... the main issue, ya' know how various lettuces will grow at different rates? Well, with the shade cloth, the differences in size were exaggerated. So, other then the Mustard, the lettuces were mostly stem.


I will say though, that I am learning from this. So far this is what I have determined.


1. If shade cloth is needed due to heat, then grow 1 variety of lettuce under it. Heads will probably do better, but dense pack for cut greens will probably be ok, once the appropriate shade and water is determined.


2. If shade cloth is not needed, then grow whatever you like. But, based on what I learned previously, growing different lettuces in the same bed is problematic due to different maturity rates. So, different varieties, different beds.


Going forward, for the Summer, im going to try individual heads, be they full size or mini heads. Im also going to order some 30% shade cloth. See how that does. I might get 40% as well, to determine if there is a threshold that is tolerable.


I did sow 6 plug trays (84 count) of both Romaine and Butter Crunch this afternoon. I decided to take advantage of the shade cloth and misters that are already setup. I put the trays under the shade cloth. Ill let the misters keep them moist thru germ. Hopefully by the time they are ready to transplant, Ill have the shade cloth waiting.


These plugs will be transplanted where the Snap Peas currently are, which are about shot anyways.

The mini heads from Johnny did great for me last year. Real eye catcher and trouble free.

[QUOTE=BigVanVader;701593]The mini heads from Johnny did great for me last year. Real eye catcher and trouble free.[/QUOTE]

Did you try the "Mini Romaine Trio"? Or similar? If you recall, how well did they handle the heat? In the shade? Etc.


If you dont mind my inquisitive mind.:lol:

Yes I did the trio, and it was a fall planting BUT other lettuces I planted did get bitter after a stretch of hot days while they did not. I had a lot of comments like how beautiful the heads were and how delicious they were. I did 2 per bag or 3 small heads per for $3. Sounds cheap but I was able to fit 3x the heads in the same space and shorter dtm. I do recall the light red color seemed less vigorous, and the color wasn't that great. This year im just doing red/green. The co-op grocery store loved them as well.

[QUOTE=BigVanVader;701969]Yes I did the trio, and it was a fall planting BUT other lettuces I planted did get bitter after a stretch of hot days while they did not. I had a lot of comments like how beautiful the heads were and how delicious they were. I did 2 per bag or 3 small heads per for $3. Sounds cheap but I was able to fit 3x the heads in the same space and shorter dtm. I do recall the light red color seemed less vigorous, and the color wasn't that great. This year im just doing red/green. The co-op grocery store loved them as well.[/QUOTE]


You got to start your prices somewhere, so $3 sounds like a good starting place. You have to see what your Market will tolerate. When you say that the co-op loved the lettuce, was that as seedlings? Or ready to sell heads?


Sending you a PM BTW...

Ray Tyler just sent this out.

[url]http://www.lettuceclass.com/optin-21177154[/url]