What does bolted iceberg lettuce look like?
You know lettuce has bolted, when its main stem elongates. It has leaves arranged in spirals on the main stem. This stem produces flowers and eventually seeds. Bolting is a survival mechanism as we will come to know soon.
We do not have an image of bolted iceberg lettuce, but we do have one for Spinach. This will give you a fair idea to understand how iceberg lettuce will look when bolted.
Why does lettuce bolt?
Bolting is a survival mechanism through which plants try to generate offsprings. When a plant faces environmental conditions that are not conducive to its growth, it tries to create seeds so that the next generation can kick in. It is nature's way of continuing the lifecycle of a plant. Iceberg lettuce thrives best in a cold climate and needs low exposure to sunlight. Thus, an increase in temperature or long exposure to daylight may cause iceberg lettuce to bolt. Another factor that can cause iceberg lettuce to bolt is using the wrong kind of manure or nutrition for the plant. Bolting is equivalent to fruiting. If one ends up giving a fruiting nutrient/manure to lettuce, it can also lead to bolting. Lettuce also bolts under drought-like conditions. Water stress accounts for unfavourable surviving conditions leading the flower to reproduce. Now, we do have a little understanding of what caused lettuce in our garden to bolt.
What happens when lettuce bolts? Is it still consumable? Is it marketable?
Here is a list of chemical and physical changes accompanied by lettuce bolt.
- It tastes bitter
- Poor or underdeveloped Head
- Greater white sap like content found in stems and leaves (mainly stems)
Poor head development and bitter taste make lettuce unfit to market. So for anyone growing lettuce for consumption, bolting is a big problem.
How to prevent bolting?
Bolting as a problem is well understood. So our natural response is to prevent it.
- Since genetics play a role in premature bolting, growing slow bolting varieties will be a natural help.
- Soak the grow medium for 1-2 days before sowing seeds
- Grow lettuce under shaded conditions like under taller plants
- Water lettuce regularly to avoid water stress and keep the growing medium cool. This also helps keep the leaves succulent.
- Easiest of all. You can always pick them when they are young enough. Lettuce also flowers when it reaches its maturity.
What can be done with bolted lettuce? If your lettuce has already bolted, there are a few ways to make it useful.
- Make soup
- Let it seed
- Animals like rabbits and chicken would feed on them so give it to some animal shelter.
- Use it as compost
- Use it as insect resistance for other plants. The bitter compound that makes lettuce taste bitter also repels burrowing insects.
The best you can do is to use some of its leaves for soup and allow it to seed. Use these seeds for further propagation.
Happy Growing!