Leaf lettuce can be a valuable crop for direct marketers. It can be profitable in itself, and also a lush, fresh, colorful lettuce display will attract customers to your stand. Field grown lettuce can be harvested from late May into October.

Typical Growing Methods
Lettuce can be direct seeded or transplanted. Weed control is easier, and uniformity is usually better with transplanted crops. Often, 3 or 4 rows are planted about 18 inches apart in raised or flat beds. I've seen good plantings of rows on individual "ridges" as well. Enhanced soil drainage helps with disease control. Transplanted crops reach full maturity in 45-60 days, while a direct seeded variety takes about 15 days longer than it would if transplanted. Crops can be planted every 10 days from April 1 through around August 1 for a continuous supply.

The earliest crops are transplanted and grown under row cover. A greenhouse is not necessary for seedling production, except for early crops. Trays can be seeded and raised outdoors, but of course they must be well-watered, just as indoors. In hot weather, germination is actually better outside of the greenhouse.

Moderately high, balanced fertility and a uniform soil moisture supply is best. The trick is not to stress the crop. It is best not to irrigate in the last 10 days of crop maturity to reduce bottom rot diseases. Weed control is not difficult. One thorough cultivation usually suffices for a transplanted crop, with an additional weeding + thinning for seeded ones. Stale seedbed techniques help with later plantings (see page _). See Cornell Recommends for herbicide options.

Varieties
Several seed companies have outstanding offerings of lettuce varieties. Johnny's Selected Seeds, Cook's Garden, Fedco, and Shepard's Seeds are notable. Plant at least four different varieties in each planting for the best marketing display. Their maturity dates will also be a bit staggered, making for a more uniform overall supply. Dependable all-season varieties include Green Ice, Red Sails, Sierra, and Nevada. Buttercrunch, Nancy, Carmona, Black Seeded Simpson, Vulcan and most others will perform well for spring-planted crops (but often poorly in the heat of mid summer).

Pests
The most damaging lettuce insect pest in our area is the tarnished plant bug (TPB). It causes unsightly discolored pits along the leaf midrib. TPB is usually a problem starting in mid-July, when populations migrate from mown hay. It lives for much of the year on legume and rose family plants, plus many weeds including goldenrod. On some farms, TPB levels are much lower than others, probably because the local vegetation doesn't foster them. Trap strips of alfalfa have been used successfully on related insect pests in other crops. Sevin is effective against TPB. Organic producers may wish to skip planting for harvests in the worst part of the season (about July 15-August 15). Romaine varieties seem to show the most damage, red colored ones the least.

Deer can be a major problem. They usually take a bite out of each head, just before you were going to harvest. Uncontrolled, they can do hundreds of dollars worth of damage in a single night. Control measures are deer fencing, getting an outdoor dog, etc. Be sure to let the NYS DEC know if you suffer damage. Lower deer populations will only result if the DEC hears about the damage they cause.

Rotations
To help keep diseases down, lettuce should be grown only every third year or less in a given field. Keeping the rotation balanced is something to think about--if lettuce takes up over 1/3 of your acreage, you will have disease problems. Finally, don't plant a whole series of succession plantings of lettuce in the same field, so that insects or diseases won't build up.

Harvest
Harvest lettuce in early morning when it is crisp and sweet. Cut the head below the lowest leaves, and if necessary, trim bad leaves and recut the base in the field. Get the harvested head out of the sun. It should be washed and cooled quickly. Lettuce that is overmature tastes bitter and will lose customers. For most varieties, a full grown head will weigh at least 9 ounces. High quality lettuce will bring around $1.25-1.50 per head in retail markets.

Adolescent lettuce
Some growers are harvesting unthinned, half-grown, direct seeded lettuce. This produces a very high quality, tender product and avoids most pest problems. Thorough washing is important. Customers quickly get used to buying their lettuce this way. It is sold by the pound or bagful. The crop comes out of the field quickly, allowing for multiple cropping (i.e. follow with a brassica crop, spinach, etc.).