Lettuce Leaf
Salad Bowl Blend Organic Seed
Lactuca - sativa
Salad Bowl Lettuce does not have an exotic name, but its name is very accurate for its performance. If you only plant one lettuce packet this season to keep your salad bowls filled with pretty and delicious leaves, this is the variety to choose. This packet contains a blend of Red Salad Bowl that has delicate, burgundy red, deeply lobed leaves and Green Salad Bowl that has long wavy green leaves. The two varieties mixed together make a beautiful presentation when served at the table! The red variety gets more intense color during cold weather, and both varieties stay tasty (and not bitter) when temperatures are warmer. Salad Bowl Lettuce is on of the most heat tolerant and bolt resistant varieties available. An old favorite as a standard for salad greens, it was an AAS winner in 1952. This packet plants: Five 10-foot rows or five successive plantings of 10-foot rows.
When to start outside: RECOMMENDED. Early spring, 3 to 4 weeks before average last frost, and successive plantings thereafter every 3 weeks until 2 weeks before the first fall frost. (Skip very hot summers.) USDA zone 8 or warmer: sow in fall for winter harvest.
When to start inside: 6 weeks before average last frost and in summer when soil temperatures are too warm outside to germinate lettuce seed.
Special Sowing & Germination Instructions: Barely cover seed with soil or plant no deeper than 1/8". Light and cool temperatures increase germination. When thinning lettuce, use the thinnings in salads. It can be planted in rows, but group plantings take up less space and are attractive. Double or triple rows also work. If direct seeding outside in late summer for a fall crop, remember that lettuce seed does not come up well in heat. Cover the seeded area with 2 x 6 boards to keep the soil cool for a few days until seed comes up. For early spring planting, cover soil with clear plastic to warm the soil to 70 degrees (the optimum temperature for lettuce). When seedlings appear, immediately take off the plastic.