The Lettuce That Got Transplanted

Bob Bauer

March 19, 2017 (Last Updated: March 06, 2023) | Reading Time: 1 minutes

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March 19, 2017

The lettuce that got transplanted into the greenhouse six weeks ago got it's second application of full strength fish emulsion yesterday, and the outer leaves are ready to pick. Shout out to fish emulsion, which always moves the plants along at top growing speed. I didn't even used to grow lettuce until my son introduced me to Deadline. I always had so many baby slugs hiding in every layer that it grosed me out..

Now I don't even need to wash the leaves unless I want to. I pulled back the mulch from the artichokes today and realized it should have been done weeks ago. The mulch kept the soil insulated through the cold winter, but now it's causing a reduction in air flow to the ground level stalks, and incouraging their destruction by sow bugs, pill bugs and slugs..

March 20, 2017

Today is the first day of spring so I got antsy to plant corn. I looked up what soil temperature it needed to germinate and found out you get poor germination below 50ÃÂ°. I borrowed the cooks kitchen thermometer and took a reading an inch deep under the plastic covering my first corn patch of the year. It was 55ÃÂ° so I planted a 4' by 6' section, then put the plastic back down. It took 24 seeds and there are 100 seeds per pack so I'll get 4 plantings for $1..

Talk about a good deal. It feels like free corn to me..

March 21, 2017

I'm transplanting out my second batch of cauliflower and broccoli. The first batch are six weeks in the ground and ready for their second application of full strength fish emulsion. The soil is still too wet but I try to compensate for that by taking tiny chips of soil out of the hole instead of large scoops. I don't compress the sides of the hole this way and it stays ready to accept root intrusion..

I gently scrape the dirt chips back in around the roots and barely push down. We don't want to smash the soil with any pressure because it will tend to lose its air and water retention properties. Then water until the hole fills up and the chips of soil will crumble down around the roots ensuring connectivity..

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