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You judge a heading lettuce by feel rather than by counting days. Press the top gently with the flat of your hand: a solid, filled resistance means it is ready. If it gives, or feels hollow inside, it needs longer.
You do not need to push hard. Waiting until it is rock solid means it splits inside or turns bitter. Cutting at about four fifths of full firmness gives you better flavor and better keeping.
- Use your palm, not your fingers Fingers concentrate the pressure in one spot and bruise the head, and it rots from there afterwards.
- Check the same plant every other day Once firming starts it moves quickly. Note the plants that feel close and compare them every couple of days.
- Expect them to be uneven Planted on the same day, they still firm at different rates. Cut them individually as they come rather than clearing the bed at once.
A head with a flat top that gives very slightly is at its best. Anything as hard as a stone has been left too long.
Rough timings by type
Feel decides it, but you still need to know when to start checking. Use the days from planting together with the size of the head or the height of the plant to tell you it is time to go and look.
| Type | Days from planting | What to look for |
|---|---|---|
| Crisphead | Eight to nine weeks | Three to five weeks after heading starts, firm to the palm |
| Romaine | Seven to nine weeks | 10 to 12 in (25 to 30 cm) tall, center upright and thick |
| Butterhead | Six to seven weeks | Inner leaves loosely folded, about hand sized |
| Loose leaf | Four to six weeks | 8 to 10 in (20 to 25 cm) tall, 10 in (25 cm) across |
Everything takes longer in cold weather. Treat the numbers as a prompt to go and look rather than a date to cut.
What happens if you leave it too long
Past its point, the inner leaves of a heading lettuce keep growing and push outwards, the top domes up and it splits. Water gets into the split and rot starts. At the same time the stem extends and the bitter sap increases.
In cold weather it moves slowly and a few days does not matter. In late spring it can change in a day. When temperatures are rising, cut early if you are unsure.
- Cut the day the top domes A head that has gone pointed and lifted at the top is about to split. Cut it that day, and eat any that have split first.
- Cut before rain A firm head sitting through a long wet spell rots from the inside. Look at the forecast and clear what is ready beforehand.
- Cook the ones you missed Trim the outer leaves and core off a bitter plant and use it in a stir fry or soup. It is perfectly good if you are not set on eating it raw.
Cut and come again
Loose leaf and cut-and-come-again types are picked leaf by leaf from the outside rather than cut as a whole plant. Leave the growing point at the center and new leaves keep coming, so a single plant can crop for more than a month.
- Leave five leaves at the center Keep the four or five young leaves at the middle and take only what is outside them. Too few left and the plant stalls.
- Fold sideways to snap them Push the leaf outwards and snap it at the base and it comes away cleanly. Pulling upwards lifts the plant or damages the growing point.
- Two or three leaves at a time Take no more than two or three per plant per visit. Overpicked, the plant stops regenerating and that is the end of it.
- Feed lightly as you go Continuous picking uses up the nutrients. A weak liquid feed or a small dressing every fortnight keeps the color up.
The same works in containers. Three plants in a 26 inch (65 cm) trough, picked in rotation, keeps a household in salad.
How to cut and what to do with the cut
Cut a heading lettuce through the stem just above the soil with a sharp knife, taking the whole head. The milky sap that runs from the cut oxidises brown quickly, so rinse it briefly and wipe it dry.
Do not wash lettuce before storing it. Water left on the leaves turns them brown at the edges. Wrap the head loosely in paper and keep it somewhere cool, and wash it as you use it.
- Cut low, in one stroke Slice through the stem just above soil level rather than sawing at it. A ragged cut bruises the base and the head keeps less well.
- Do not wash before storing Brush off soil and store it dry. Washing and then refrigerating gives you brown edges within a day.
- Wrap and keep cool Wrap loosely in paper and keep it somewhere cool. A sealed bag traps moisture and the outer leaves go slimy.