Harvest iceberg lettuce (Iceberg lettuce cultivation) – Grow iceberg lettuce in field
How to grow iceberg lettuce in field crop cultivation. The iceberg lettuce planted in early September is now ready for harvest. This year, I grew an extra-early variety of iceberg lettuce. (When grown from seedlings, it takes about 45 days from planting to harvest. It’s a disease-resistant variety, making it good for home gardening.)
Lettuce varieties (not just iceberg lettuce, but also leaf lettuce and romaine lettuce) prefer cool weather, so I was worried if they could survive this year’s long, hot late summer. But they safely reached harvest time. (Especially for iceberg lettuce, the biggest worry was that it might not form heads if exposed to too much heat.)
Iceberg lettuce planted in early to mid-September grows fairly well if it can get through the late summer heat at planting time. So, I think it’s easy to grow even for beginners in home gardening.
Lettuce is a vegetable that doesn’t attract many bugs, but depending on the environment, caterpillars or aphids might appear. It’s better to use an insect netting. (Use grow tunnel and set up an insect netting. It’s best to install the net at the same time as planting the lettuce.)
Summary of iceberg lettuce cultivation：Soil preparation and planting seedlings (How to grow extra-early lettuce)
When to started growing iceberg lettuce? For iceberg lettuce, if planted in the fall, the growing period is from early September to early November. Iceberg lettuce has a short growing period of about 2 months from planting to harvest, so soil preparation needs to be done early. For fall-grown iceberg lettuce, the time for soil preparation is around early August.
https://www.vege-try.net/en/prepare-field-for-cabbage-lettuc...The planting time for iceberg lettuce this year was early September. During this time, not only iceberg lettuce but also cabbage and broccolini are planted together. Especially for iceberg lettuce and cabbage, the planting time is very important. A common point is that if you plant them in fall and want to harvest by the end of the year, the planting should be done by mid-September.
The reason for setting a planting deadline is that if you plant iceberg lettuce too late, it may not form a head. To form a head, the outer leaves need to grow large while the plant is still young.
To do this, you should plant by mid-September while it’s still warm and let the outer leaves grow large during active growth. September can still be very hot, so there is a risk of poor growth from the heat, but it’s best to follow the planting schedule.
If you plant iceberg lettuce close to October, the temperature will drop, and there is a higher chance that the outer leaves won’t grow big, which means the iceberg lettuce won’t form a head. Be careful about this.
Summary of iceberg lettuce cultivation：The timing for iceberg lettuce side dressing (How to grow extra-early lettuce)
About a week after planting the iceberg lettuce, the late summer heat was still strong, and I was worried about their growth. Even though I gave plenty of water to the base of the plants in the morning, the iceberg lettuce looked wilted during the day, which made me very worried. After the weather cooled down a bit and the plants settled their roots, their growth started to recover.
Late September was the time for side dressing (fertilizing) the iceberg lettuce. It was about 3 weeks after planting. In general, for vegetables grown from seedlings, side dressing is usually done about 3 to 4 weeks after planting.
For iceberg lettuce, one round of side dressing is usually enough, unless something unusual happens. You might want to add more fertilizer to get bigger iceberg lettuce, but that’s not good. Too much fertilizer can cause the iceberg lettuce to split or increase the risk of pests and diseases.
Summary of iceberg lettuce cultivation：Post-side dressing cultivation management (How to grow extra-early lettuce)
About two weeks after the side dressing, this is a picture of the iceberg lettuce taken in early October. About one month has passed since planting.
The outer leaves of the iceberg lettuce have become larger, and the head is starting to form. Since the side dressing, I haven’t watered much. The iceberg lettuce is growing on its own, so there is less work for me in managing it. (However, if I’m not careful, pests can eat the leaves, so I regularly check for insect damage on the leaves.)
Summary of iceberg lettuce cultivation：The iceberg lettuce is ready for harvest (How to grow extra-early lettuce)
Late October. Time to harvest the iceberg lettuce. The way to know when to harvest iceberg lettuce is by checking the firmness of the head. Press from the top, and if it’s firm, it’s time to harvest.
How to harvest the iceberg lettuce? The method for harvesting iceberg lettuce is to take the whole plant. Cut the stem at the base and harvest the entire head. If it seems easy to pull, you can also pull it up from the roots to harvest.
The best time to harvest iceberg lettuce is when the head is firm, but it’s also good to harvest it a little earlier. Younger iceberg lettuce has softer leaves and a better texture.
The harvested iceberg lettuce was about 17cm (6.7 in.) in diameter.
Iceberg lettuce is usually thought of as a salad vegetable, but it’s also tasty in stir-fried dishes. I like to stir-fry it with sausage and add eggs. It’s also good in fried rice.
I have one more iceberg lettuce growing, and it’s also almost ready to harvest. I’ll check it and harvest it soon. (It’s better to harvest iceberg lettuce when it’s ready. If you leave it in the field too long, it might split.)
Following is the video for how-to. English subtitles are available.