Romaine lettuce - growing technology at their summer cottage

The second name of the salad is Roman. Romaine lettuce is an annual culture that resembles a head of cabbage in shape. The most popular elder among the "green salads", this particular variety is the basis of the "Caesar" salad.

Romaine lettuce - benefits, description and features

Romaine lettuce looks like a photo

Romaine lettuce is attractive not only for its taste, but also for its health benefits. Its low calorie content allows it to be used both in a regular diet and in various diets.

Useful properties of Romaine lettuce

The required amount of protein and carbohydrates in 1 kg. lettuce contains as much as one hundred grams of cottage cheese, and much less fat. And the composition of trace elements: vitamins A, E, B (in various forms), H, PP, selenium, phosphorus, magnesium - and this is just a small list of all useful components. For the value of the composition, Romaine lettuce is used for medicinal purposes. Vascular diseases, hemoglobin, heart failure.
It tastes like a nut, combined with spices and garlic in sauces. The leaves are juicy, tasty even when consumed alone. And the composition of salads is just a perfect combination. As a conclusion, it can be said that both an independent culture and an additive are useful, as a source of substances necessary for the body.

Site selection, soil preparation for Romaine lettuce

Romaine lettuce photo

As for any culture, the choice of a planting site is approached with attention, taking into account the features, sequence, soil preparation. The opinion that the Romaine lettuce is unpretentious in itself and can be assigned to any unnecessary corner of your site is considered erroneous, some lettuce varieties even require special care.

Question: the composition of vitamins and microelements in culture, is it natural or acquired, is asked by every second gardener. If the soil was infertile during planting, then, accordingly, the salad will have an unattractive herbaceous taste, and you can not even talk about the usefulness.

Namely, relying on these features, we choose a sufficiently illuminated place on the site, the soil should be of low acidity, sufficiently enriched with various microelements. Well hydrated, but without stagnant water, which can lead to death. The introduction of humus, immediately before sowing, contributes to the abundant formation of greenery. Excess potassium leads to poor growth and disease susceptibility.

Romaine lettuce: how to grow?

Romaine lettuce seeds: preparation for growing

It is advisable to purchase planting material in specialized stores, where all recommendations are followed during storage. They use two methods of seed preparation, Sparging and Pelleting.

In the first method, 24 hours before sowing, immerse the seeds in a solution of trace elements, filling the container with the solution by 2-3 parts of the amount of seeds. If during the procedure the seeds begin to hatch, the process should be stopped. Remove the seeds from the solution and dry.

Using the second method of processing, the seeds are soaked in mullein infusion. One to ten with water. After the mixture for pelleting is prepared in the following way: peat-600 g, 100 g mullein, humus-300 g, you can add 10-15 g of surfactant. Add the mixture in small portions to a container with seeds, after swelling, remove the seeds and dry them.

Moisten the seeds slightly just before planting. As a rule, the seeds are light; gardeners use weighting by mixing with sand.

Sowing in open ground

Romaine lettuce is supposed to be grown in open ground, and not under a film or a greenhouse. As soon as the most positive temperature is established, you can start sowing. We choose the average distance between the rows, about 35-45 cm (depending on the size of the heads). Excessive tightness can lead to underdevelopment of the plant and the possibility of disease. The landing pits do not exceed 5 mm. The soil, preferably, is needed free-flowing and without lumps.

Salad care

Timely loosening at the stage of enhanced growth and plant formation, watering, clearing weeds. All these processes allow the soil to receive sufficient oxygen enrichment, the correct formation of the lettuce.

It is necessary to control the moisture content of the soil, not to overdry, but also not to allow an excess of moisture. At an early stage of development, you can use a spray bottle to prevent funnels and depressions from forming near the root system. At the time of the formation of heads of cabbage, you can increase watering.

Thinning of lettuce is carried out manually. The volume of the harvest may depend on the quality of this procedure. Also early culling of diseased, non-developing plants.

Fertilizing during ripening includes all minerals that do not contain nitrates. the salad will soon be on the table. If fertilized well before sowing, this procedure can be completely skipped during growth.

Pest and disease control

Diseases and pests of Romaine lettuce do not pass by, like any other culture. At the same time, the spread occurs quickly throughout the planting area, which affects the yield.

Powdery mildew - fungal, appears in the second half of ripening, the target is the upper part. Signs, brown spots on the leaves. For treatment, fungicides or sulfur solution are used.

Gray rot - also a fungus, the green part suffers, especially during the harvest readiness period. Signs, gray bloom, brown spots. The methods of struggle are the same as in the first variant. In case of insufficient treatment, a relapse is possible.

White rot - according to the signs it is manifested by watery spots. You can opt for simple, environmentally friendly disposal of diseased leaves. Alternatively, you can process the leaves with potassium permanganate or chalk.

Septoriasis - plant disease in open ground, spots with black dots. Preparations containing copper are suitable for processing.

Lettuce fly - midge, no more than a centimeter, ash-colored. Harmful to plants from which it is planned to collect seeds for the next harvest.

Aphid - grayish-green insect, no more than 3 mm, as a fight, you can use harmless onion peel or dandelion as an infusion.

Harvest

The process takes place in different periods of time, because the degree of maturation is different. If the pith is hard when pressed, the lettuce is ripe.

10-15 days before harvesting, "whitening" is carried out, the leaves are tied close to the head of cabbage, this will relieve Romen of bitterness.

Another method helps to obtain seed, but in this case, the salad itself is not suitable for food. They start collecting, after the appearance of a brown tint on the leaves and the fly. Thresh the seed, dry it, clean it from debris through a sieve.

Planting salad from the supermarket - video

Using the tips and tricks given in this article, you can get tasty and healthy Romaine lettuce leaves. The main thing is not to be zealous with fertilizers, this will affect the environmental friendliness of the product.

Romaine lettuce - photo