Trying to grow lettuce again this year and want to mimic where it grows best - and wild. The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday said romaine lettuce grown in Florida is safe to eat. How to Keep Growing Lettuce in Fall (and Winter) Even in cold winter areas, you can grow lettuce through the colder months if you give your plants some protection. The initial settlers in South America considered lettuce to be a cure for small pox. Summercrisp – Also called Batavian or French crisp, this lettuce is midway between the crisphead and leaf types. Lettuce flowers more quickly in hot temperatures, while freezing temperatures cause slower growth and sometimes damage to outer leaves. The fruits have 5–7 ribs on each side and are tipped by two rows of small white hairs. Temperatures above 27 °C (81 °F) will generally result in poor or non-existent germination of lettuce seeds. [13], Lettuce's native range spreads from the Mediterranean to Siberia, although it has been transported to almost all areas of the world. Tracing the history of many varieties is complicated by the practice of many companies, particularly in the US, of changing a variety's name from year to year. This Primefact includes information on: The plant is difficult to store as it has a high water content and thus it is best eaten fresh. The study noted that in some trials, the space-grown plants tended to be richer in elements like potassium, sodium, phosphorus, sulphur, and zinc, as well as in some molecules with proven antiviral, anticancer, and anti-inflammatory activity. or on mountain tops, without getting eaten. [47][48][49], In the United States in 2013, California (71%) and Arizona (29%) produced nearly all of the country's fresh head and leaf lettuce, with head lettuce yielding $9400 of value per acre and leaf lettuce $8000 per acre.[48]. Lettuce Farming Guide: Introduction to Lettuce:- Lettuce is one of the popular cool season leafy salad crops grown throughout the world due to its food value in diet.Among all, garden lettuce is being grown on commercial scale. [28], Lettuce is very easy to grow, and as such has been a significant source of sales for many seed companies. Countries worldwide are steadily supplying more and more produce to Americans eager to “eat fresh” year-round Lettuce is grown in home gardens worldwide. Growing lettuce in greenhouses has many benefits, from lower water and land usage, to crops being protected from outside elements. Your Fruits and Vegetables Come from: An Interactive Finder. Lettuce is most often grown as a leaf vegetable, but sometimes for its stem and seeds as well. Countries worldwide are steadily supplying more and more produce to Americans eager to “eat fresh” year-round This large price difference is justified; as hydroponic lettuce has a better taste, is grown without pesticides, and requires significantly less water to grow. Lettuce is easy to grow. In addition to its main use as a leafy green, it has also gathered religious and medicinal signific… [9], The Romans referred to lettuce as lactuca (lac meaning dairy in Latin), an allusion to the white substance, now called latex, exuded by cut stems. or on mountain tops, without getting eaten. [22] Most lettuce is used in salads, either alone or with other greens, vegetables, meats and cheeses. Different locations tended to prefer different types of lettuce, with butterhead prevailing in northern Europe and Great Britain, romaine in the Mediterranean and stem lettuce in China and Egypt. In the US, no one type predominated until the early 20th century, when crisphead lettuces began gaining popularity. [26], Due to its short lifespan after harvest, lettuce was originally sold relatively close to where it was grown. This is done through the aid of modern technology, namely aeroponics and hydroponics. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa), an annual plant, belongs to the family Asteraceae. In that country, "salads" were created from cooked vegetables and served hot or cold. Lettuce will also cross with Lactuca serriola (wild lettuce), with the resulting seeds often producing a plant with tough, bitter leaves. [11] The consumption of lettuce in China developed differently from in Western countries, due to health risks and cultural aversion to eating raw leaves. Lettuce is the only member of the genus Lactuca to be grown commercially. Plants generally have a height and spread of 15 to 30 cm (6 to 12 in). There are several types or cultivars of lettuce. -Kelly W. ANSWER: By planting a few seeds every two weeks or so, gardeners in many parts of the world can grow lettuce year round.Most varieties of salad greens really thrive in the cool and mild times of year, when temperatures are 60 degrees Fahrenheit or lower. Fungal diseases include powdery mildew and downy mildew, which cause leaves to mold and die and bottom rot, lettuce drop and gray mold, which cause entire plants to rot and collapse. This lettuce is so local, they grow it right in the supermarket QFC supermarkets around Seattle now feature standing indoor farms that grow the produce in the store. The plant is usually cultivated as a leaf vegetable in different parts of the world. By 50 AD, many types were described, and lettuce appeared often in medieval writings, including several herbals. During the 81–96 AD reign of Domitian, the tradition of serving a lettuce salad before a meal began. Three types – leaf, head and cos or romaine – are the most common. Instead of growing the lettuce in soil, they are grown in nutrient solutions inside green houses. Lettuce leaves can also be found in soups, sandwiches and wraps, while the stems are eaten both raw and cooked. Growers in the USA, Canada, Japan and Europe are opting for a semi-closed greenhouse in combination with the nutrient film … Although romaine lettuce is a heat resistant variety, lettuce, in general, are cold-weather plants and will not do well in hot weather. The scenario changed since the late 1900’s when the crop began to be cultivated in large-scale in other parts of the world. “Greenhouse manufacturers originally developed this type of greenhouse for fruit crops, but this approach is increasingly is being chosen for hydroponic production of lettuce too. Lettuce can be grown in a garden almost anywhere in the US, but by far the majority of commercial lettuce is grown in the Salinas Valley on California's central coast. The harvested lettuce is best stored at 0 °C and a humidity of 96%. Lettuce quickly degrades when stored with fruit such as apples, pears and bananas that release the ripening agent ethylene gas. [55] In contrast, the ancient Greeks connected the plant with male impotency,[10] and served it during funerals (probably due to its role in the myth of Adonis' death), and British women in the 19th century believed it would cause infertility and sterility. Stem lettuce is more common in Egypt and China while butterhead was preferred in Northern Europe. In 1917, 3,350 carloads of butter lettuce were shipped to terminal markets across the U.S., compared to only 2,078 carloads of iceberg lettuce. In 2017, world production of lettuce (report combined with chicory) was 27 million tonnes, with China alone producing 15.2 million tonnes or 56% of the world total (see table). In the last decade, the market for this variety has also grown explosively in Italy. In 2013, 24.9 million tons of lettuce were produced in the world. [46], In the early 21st century, bagged salad products increased in the lettuce market, especially in the US where innovative packaging and shipping methods prolonged freshness. Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, China, the Philippines and possibly certain parts of India would grow lettuce. Pale to white lettuce, such as the centers in some iceberg lettuce, contain few nutrients.[18]. Cover with a very thin layer of compost or vermiculite. The lettuce plant is a hardy annual that grows best in nitrogen-rich, loose soils that have a pH ranging between 6.0 and 6.8. [10] This word has become the genus name, while sativa (meaning "sown" or "cultivated") was added to create the species name. [29] Although most lettuce grown today is used as a vegetable, a minor amount is used in the production of tobacco-free cigarettes; however, domestic lettuce's wild relatives produce a leaf that visually more closely resembles tobacco. [26] Lettuces meant for the cutting of individual leaves are generally planted straight into the garden in thick rows. Lettuce has mild narcotic properties; it was called "sleepwort" by the Anglo-Saxons because of this attribute, although the cultivated L. sativa has lower levels of the narcotic than its wild cousins. One variety, the celtuce (asparagus lettuce) (t: 萵苣; s: 莴苣; woju), is grown for its stems, which are eaten either raw or cooked. Several types of lettuce are grown but the three most common types are romaine, leaf, and head lettuce. "[23] Its use in religious ceremonies resulted in the creation of many images in tombs and wall paintings. Yuma farmers grow a host of crops: wheat, oranges, lemons, dates, alfalfa. [5] The species was first described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus in the second volume of his Species Plantarum. 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