Lettuce help

warontv

Everything in my garden is doing fantastic, except my lettuce. It sprouts and starts growing but then wilts. It never gets bigger then 2". Does lettuce not need as much water? I water once a day and on super hot days twice.

kastle

lettuce doesn't do well in hot weather, let alone "super hot."  it's a cool season crop so that may be the issue.  also, watering deeply is better than watering a little bit everyday.  If the water soaks deep into the ground, it encourages plants to grow deeper roots which kind of lessens the impact of drought.

warontv

That would explain the lettuce, I thought it was a cool weather veggie, but the "expert" told me it would do perfectly fine in our weather.

I container garden, and the containers are about a foot off the ground. I water until I see a little water dripping from the bottom.  Thank you for your advice. :-]

pdxmouse

Keep in mind that many plants will wilt a little in the hottest parts of the day and perk back up after sundown. A little droopiness doesn't always call for water.

Are you growing from starts or seed? Here at least, lettuce seems to do better from seed.

warontv

I did plant them from seed. They were wilting, but were not regaining strength. I would water them, not water them, check them at different times of the day & night. They looked dead. I planted some more from seed, just to see what happens, they germinate pretty quickly. Hopefully third time is a charm.

redcabbage

it is probably the heat.

another KT

If you can, try and give them morning sun and afternoon shade.  That will keep them cooler.

aschleser

There are also lots of different kinds of lettuce/greens that you can plant.  I plant Black Seeded Sampson (Simpson?) in the early spring in Virginia because it is a cool weather lettuce.  My buttercrunch (my favorite!) says to wait to plant until after all danger of frost, it is more cold susceptible and heat tolerant.  Might help to look a little further on the back of the package to find a lettuce that does better in the warmer weather - and def. do what PP said and shade them from the afternoon sun.  Sometimes you can use taller plants arranged just right to provide them some relief.

warontv

Thanks everyone for the advice. I'm gonna try and shade them. Hopefully that works.