Teotzlcoatl Posted July 18, 2008 I was thinkin' about growin' Lactuca virosa here in the South-Eastern U.S.A., what would be the best time of year to plant? Early spring? Will the plants repropagate them selves in the following years? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Auxin Posted July 18, 2008 (edited) Firstly its biennial. I'm northern zone 7a, on 29 April 2007 (spring, just after last frost) I planted some in situ, it grew great the first year ending up as a 2.5 foot wide rosette by winter which stayed green all winter (potential winter famine food but I'd only eat it before bed ) this spring it started growing up and right now its 10 feet tall, 2/3 done seeding out, and the leaves are starting to die off faster than I can milk them. I'm 6' tall and I have to stand on a bucket to reach the seeds on the top big ferkin' lettuce. It may self seed to produce new plants but remember, it doesnt seed til its second year and it reportedly doesnt give good product until flowering (I never actually milked a rosette to test that). So if you plant some in spring 2009 it'll give you product and seed in summer 2010, if you want product in 2011 you will have had to plant more seed in the spring of 2010- before the first plant makes seed. You could try planting some now if you want a chance of getting a (small) adult plant next year Edited July 18, 2008 by Auxin Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Teotzlcoatl Posted July 19, 2008 Hmm... Will it survive the winter as a seedling? I'm just gonna have to plant shit-loads every spring... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
