I Peeked Under the Board Covering My Lettuce

Bob Bauer

July 06, 2017 (Last Updated: March 06, 2023) | Reading Time: 2 minutes

July 06, 2017

I peeked under the board covering my lettuce row yesterday morning and saw a sprout, so I left the board off. This morning there were no new sprouts and I realized it was 94ÃÂ° yesterday. Lettuce germinates best around 50ÃÂ° to 60ÃÂ° and will not germinate at 85ÃÂ° so I may have cooked the whole row. I've got plenty more seeds left so it's no big deal. I'm going to put to rest the joke about half a pack of seeds left because it's getting old and could go on forever. Get it? Ok I'm done..

Lettuce not forget how many seeds are in a $1.79 pack though. I've planted eight 6 packs and 5 ten foot rows and have enough seeds left to keep planting into the fall. Such a deal. Hard to beet..

July 07, 2017

The Brussels sprouts are starting to form tight heads even in this heat. They are supposed to prefer a cooler time to mature. I was surprised, but the aphid weren't. The tiny Brussels sprouts are already covered with them. A little soapy water in a spray bottle will help keep them under control, but new ones keep flying in from fields far and near, like wind borne vagabonds..

I don't know how many different species there are but the ones on the corn are black, on the melon they are light green, and the crucifers all have greyish green ones. I think it's best to spray them so they don't get too numerous because they carry diseases and can suck the life out of your plants. The first few frosts in November usually kill them so the picking process isn't too sticky. They tend to hide under the loose outer leaves so I peal them back and rince..

July 08, 2017

The lettuce seeds went ahead and sprouted in spite of the heat. I think the afternoon shade saved me. I left the board that was covering them on the ground next to them, and ran a line of Deadline under it. We all know how much slugs like lettuce..

The last sentence on the seed package says to protect from slugs, so even the seed growers want you to succeed. You would think they would want you to buy more seed, but they have probably been accused of bad seeds when slugs devour the whole row before the gardener even sees the sprouts. As soon as the tomatoes start ripening I won't be eating so much lettuce so I've started shaking the tomato towers when I walk past..

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