Lettuce Mesclun
Valentine Organic Seed
Lactuca - sativa
You'll fall in love with this delicious blend of exceptional lettuces in beautiful shades of red. This mix of mouth-watering textures and gourmet flavor will awaken your senses when you pick beautiful salads fresh from your garden. These seven heirloom and improved varieties are easy to grow in garden beds and containers, or even flower gardens. The mix includes: Lolla Rossa 14% (very frilly green leaf with red edges) Marveille de Quatre Saisons 14% (red, ruffled butterhead with reddish tips) Redina 14% (wine-red puckered leaf) Red Oakleaf 15% (red, deeply lobed, oak-shaped leaf) Red Salad bowl 15% (bronze-red deeply lobed leaf) Rouge d'Hiver 14% (medium-red romaine, very cold tolerant) Ruben's Red 14% (deep red, ruffled romaine)
When to plant outside: RECOMMENDED. Early spring, 3 to 4 weeks before the average last frost and successive plantings every 3 weeks until 2 weeks before the first fall frost. (Skip very hot summer weeks.) In USDA zone 8 or warmer, you can also sow in the fall for winter harvest.
When to start inside: 6 weeks before the average last spring frost and in summer when temperatures are too warm outside to germinate lettuce seed.
Special Germination Instructions: Lettuce seeds do not germinate well in hot soil temperatures. Cover seeded area with boards held slightly above the soil by bricks or another prop to keep soil cool for a few days until seeds come up. For early spring planting, cover soil with clear plastic to warm the soil to 70 degrees, the optimum temperature for lettuce germination. When seedlings appear, immediately take off the plastic. Lettuce can be planted in rows, but group plantings take less space and are attractive. Double or triple rows also work. When thinning lettuce, use thinnings in salads.