Gayla Trail
Gayla is a writer, photographer, and former graphic designer with a background in the Fine Arts, cultural criticism, and ecology. She is the author, photographer, and designer of best-selling books on gardening, cooking, and preserving.

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10 thoughts on “A Tale of Two Lettuces

  1. THAT is CRAZY. i never woulda thought it could make that kind of a difference. did you wait until they sprouted to put it on? my lettuce and spinach is being awefully slow to sprout, maybe that would help!

  2. wow! great experiment, thanks for sharing. did you leave the cloche on the whole time or just at night?

  3. I put it on right away and leave it on most of the time. It is lightly propped so air still gets underneath. I sometimes lift it for a period of time to water or when it rains.

    Assertagirl: I have row covers at my community plot and they have been doing the same but I am rarely there so the one problem is that rain does not get underneath… it’s seems ridiculous that I have to lift them and water after a rainfall when the rest of the garden is wet.

  4. I should get my photos of my lettuce. I was all proud of myself planting one set then another 3 weeks later. Turns out because it was so cold still for the first set, that inspite of being nearly a month apart, the plants are nearly the same size. There is some difference, but really not much. In hindsight I should have totally used some kind of cover. Then there’s my wild fantasies about a greenhouse… but that’s for next year (maybe).

  5. I’m going to give this a try when it cools off.
    Ariane: Sprouting spinach seeds is faster if you freeze them fist–This causes small breaks in the outer covering of the hard seeds. I put one seed in each hole of an ice cube tray and fill it with water and freeze it. Then I “plant” the ice cubes.

  6. ingrid: Yes, radishes would work too… although I’m using cloches to protect my plants from the blaring sun now rather than to keep them insulated and warm.

    Julie: That’s a great tip.

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