Salad

Salad leaves are a veg plot staple – easy to grow and there’s always room on your plate for a crisp salad leaf. By choosing the right salad varieties it’s possible to grow your own to harvest from later spring through until autumn.

The health benefits varies depending on the variety. 100g provides:

Iceberg – Vitamin A 502 IU, Vitamin C 2.8mg, Folic Acid 29mcg, Iron 0.41mg

Green Leaf – Vitamin A 7405 IU, Vitamin C 9.2mg, Folic Acid 38mcg, Iron 0.86mg

Red Leaf – Vitamin A 7492 IU, Vitamin C 3.7mg, Folic Acid 36mcg, Iron 1.2mg

Romaine – Vitamin A 8710 IU, Vitamin C 4 mg, Folic Acid 136 mcg, Iron 0.97mg

Butterhead – Vitamin A 3312 IU, Vitamin C 3.7 mg, Folic Acid 73 mcg, Iron 1.24mg

Salad leaves have a short shelf-life in comparison to other vegetables, typically lasting only about 3-5 days in the fridge.

Lettuce is the most common type of salad leaf to grow, but it’s easy to grow many varieties even the more exotic ones seen in supermarkets.

Sow seeds indoors in February or sow directly outside in rows from mid-spring to late summer.

When sowing outside make sure to sow thinly and at 1cm deep, or sprinkle a mix of seeds over an area of soil and then cover with 1cm of compost.

Thin the seedlings with your thumb and forefinger to give room for the plants to develop. The seedlings you remove are still edible and make for a tasty and healthy topping on salads.

Aim to sow every fortnight to ensure a continuous harvest through the summer. 

 

Salad leaves grow best in full sun and in well drained soil. This makes them excellent for growing in containers and growbags otherwise a veg plot is ideal.

       

 

 

Watering should be done when the soil is dry, ideally in the early mornings to avoid evaporation and therefore allowing the pants to take up the most amount of water possible.

Slugs and Snails

Slugs and snails love to feast on young, fresh growth. You can recognise these pests from the silvery slime trail around the crops and on the plants.

It’s known that slugs and snails hate to travel over sharp objects such as grit and egg shells, as well as over copper. Copper tape can be available to line containers, otherwise bio-controls such as those by Neudorf that are designed to be pet and child safe. 

Grey Mould (Botrytis)

Recognised as a grey fuzz or pale, discoloured patches which is in fact a fungal growth. The botrytis spores enters the plant through damaged tissue, wounds or open flowers, typically in when conditions are damp or humid.

To avoid the infection remove damaged areas from the plant as soon as possible, reduce humidity by ventilating and avoiding overcrowding plants where possible.

Lettuce Root Aphid

A typical sign of Lettuce Root Aphid is the plant suddenly wilting and dying back, usually around the mid-late summer. The aphids will not be present on the plant as they live in the soil around the roots that they attack. They do however attract ants, as they feed on the honeydew from the aphids.

To prevent against Lettuce Root Aphid cover the plants with an insect-proof mesh from June – August.

Keep the lettuce well-watered as the damage tends to be worse in dry conditions. It is possible to lift the plants that have affected to wash off the aphids and then replanting. in new compost.

If there is a large infestation across many plants destroy the plants.

Typically salad leaves can be cut three or four times with a pair of scissors, hence the nickname “cut and come again”. This should be done when the plant is about 10cm high.

                               

 

 

 

                         

 

 

 

 

 

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