How Long Does A Lettuce Take To Grow

 

How Long Does A Lettuce Take To Grow

Lettuce 

Botanical Name : Lactuca ativa 

Family : Asteracae /Compositae

Chromosome No. : 2n = 16, 18 

                                                                                    

Lettuce occupies a prominent place among salad crops. Commercially, it is cultivated in very few areas. It is usually grown in kitchen gardens. It is produced commercially in foreign countries. Its cultivation is very popular in America. In foreign countries, it is grown in glass houses. Its leaves and tubers are used as salad.

The birthplace of lettuce is considered to be Minor Asia, Iran and Turkey and from there its cultivation has spread to other countries of the world.

Nutritive value - Its soft and juicy leaves are used in green state as lettuce. Minerals and vitamin A are found in large quantities in the leaves. The food value of lettuce is shown in the table -

   How To Grow Lettuce

                                          

                                        (Nutrition Value of Lettuce per 100 gm)                                                

Moisture                           : 93.40 g Protein                              : 2.10 g Fat                                     : 0.30 g Fiber                                  : 0.50 g Minerals                            : 1.20 g Other Carbohydrates      : 2.50 g Magnesium                       : 30.00 mg Iron                                    : 2.40 mg Thiamine                           : 0.90 mg Calories                             : 22.00 Chlorine                            : 23.00 mg Calcium                            : 50.00 mg Phosphorus                      : 28.00 mg Sodium                             : 58.00 mg Sulfur                               : 27.00 mg Riboflavin                       : 0.13 mg Vitamin C                       : 10.00 mg Nicotinic Acid                : 0.50 mg Vitamins  'A'                 : 1650.00 IU

Climate - Lettuce crop requires a cool climate. A temperature of 13-16° Celsius is required for its good growth. Due to high temperature, the stalks of the seeds come out quickly and the taste of the leaves becomes bitter. Top type varieties rot in hot, humid and rainy weather. Lettuce can be grown well even in subtropical climate.

Soil - For successful production of lettuce, sandy loam soil with proper drainage and pH value of 6.0-6.5 is considered the best. It is highly sensitive to acidic soils. The yield of lettuce decreases in soil with pH value less than 5 and more than 7.

Species

Lettuce species are divided into the following four categories based on their appearance and texture—

(1) Romainer type - Its leaves are shiny and heads are long. Due to its curled leaves with excellent quality, its demand in the market is higher than other varieties. The main variety of this category is 'Dark green'.

(2) Curly-leaved species - The biggest identity of this category is that its leaves form a head like cabbage, i.e. the leaves are wrapped around each other.

(3) Loose-leaved species - Spreading varieties come under this category. The leaves of the plants are formed in bunches and do not climb over each other. These varieties are very tasty to eat.

(4) Butter Head Varieties - The leaves of varieties of this class are curled or shrinking. The leaves are soft, smooth and buttery in color. The main variety of this class is White Boston.

      How To Grow Lettuce At  home 

Improved Varieties

The characteristics of the main improved varieties grown in North India are mentioned below -

Great Lakes - This is a spreading variety, whose upper part is large. The leaves are strong and dark green in colour. It is a resistant variety to tip burning disease. Its seeds are white in colour.

Chinese Yellow - This is an early variety. It is an open leaf variety. Its leaves are light green in colour, crisp and soft. Head is not formed in this variety. Its seeds are white in colour. It is a high yielding variety.

Slow Bolt - This is a spreading variety. The leaves are broad and yellowish green in colour. Its leaves do not form heads. The specialty of this variety is that it flowers late (Late bolting). Hence, it is a very good variety for growing in home gardens. It is an excellent variety for growing in mid and high mountainous and cold desert regions. It yields up to 235 quintals per hectare.

Simpson black seeded - The leaves of this variety are long and light green in colour which become bitter when grown. It yields 65-75 quintals per hectare. This variety is suitable for growing in all regions.

Imperial 859 - The heads of this variety are medium sized and solid, which are tightly covered by the outer leaves. The special thing about this variety is that it can be grown successfully even in hot weather.

Land preparation - Lettuce is a shallow rooted crop. Hence it does not require much ploughing. First ploughing should be done with a soil turning plough. After this, two ploughings should be done with a cultivator or harrow. After each ploughing, use a leveller.

Manure and fertilizers - Since lettuce is not cultivated on a large scale in India, no special research work has been done to find out the demand for manure and fertilizers for it. Some scientists have done some research work which is mentioned below -

Mehta (1959) has recommended adding 85 kg and 56 kg potash in addition to 100-150 quintals of cow dung manure per hectare.

Singh and colleagues (1962) have recommended applying 75-100 quintals of cow dung manure and 50 kg ammonium sulphate twice in the standing crop as top dressing at the time of field preparation.

          How To Grow Lettuce From Seeds

To get higher yield of salad, apply the following quantity of manure and fertilizers per hectare:

Farm Yard Manure - 15-20 tons

Nitrogen -100 kg

Phosphorus - 60 kg

Potash - 60 kg

Spread cow dung manure evenly in the field before field preparation and then plough it. Make a mixture of full quantity of phosphorus, potash and 1/2 nitrogen and put it in the soil at the time of final ploughing. The remaining quantity of nitrogen should be applied twice as top dressing. The first time should be applied one month after transplantation and the second time 45-60 days after transplantation.

Sowing

Seed rate - 500 grams of seed per hectare is sufficient.

Seed treatment - Before sowing, the seeds should be treated with thiram or agrocin GN (3 grams / kg of seed).

   How To Grow Lettuce In Pots

Method of sowing - Lettuce is grown in the following way -

(1) Leafy varieties are sown directly in the field for which August-September is the appropriate time.

(2) Some varieties are first sown in the nursery. When the plants become 5-6 weeks old, they are planted in the field. The time for sowing seeds in the nursery is September-October.

In hilly areas, the appropriate time for sowing lettuce is from February to June.

(1) For direct sowing in the field, the distance between rows and plants is kept 45 x 30 cm. 

(2) For transplanted crops, keep row and plant spacing at 45 cm and 25-35 cm respectively.

Irrigation - It is very important to do pre-irrigation before sowing seeds. Similarly, irrigation should be done after transplantation so that the plants get well established. Light irrigation should be done 3-4 days after transplantation of the crop. There should not be lack of moisture in the lettuce crop. Otherwise, bolting occurs.

Plant Protection

Weed control - Many weeds grow along with the lettuce crop which adversely affect the development and growth of the plants. Weeding should be done 2-3 weeks after transplantation. Thereafter, weeding should be done as per the need.

   How Long Does It Take For Lettuce To Grow

Insect Control

Aphid - This insect sucks the juice of the leaves. Due to which the quality and growth of the leaves is adversely affected.

To protect the crop from this insect, 0.1 percent Malathion should be sprayed. Cabbage lopper – This insect attacks the mature plants more and damages the crop.

The following measures should be taken to prevent this insect-

- The plants affected by the insect should be uprooted and burnt.

- 0.1 percent Malathion solution should be sprayed.

Disease Control

Damping off and Root rot – This disease is caused by fungus. This disease occurs in two ways. In the first stage, the seeds do not germinate and in the second stage, the plants fall from the surface of the soil as soon as they grow.

The following measures should be taken to prevent this disease-

- The seeds should be treated with 20% ceresan before sowing.

- After this, 0.2 percent difoltan should be sprayed at an interval of 15 days. Downy mildew - This is a disease caused by fungus. Due to this disease, green-yellow areas appear on the leaves, which later turn brown. The plant's food production is hindered.

To prevent this disease, 0.2 percent Zineb should be sprayed.

How Long Does A Lettuce Take To Grow

Lettuce drop - In this disease, the diseased stem gets damaged near the soil. As a result, the leaves start drying and finally the plant dies.

The following measures should be taken to prevent this disease -

- To prevent this disease, the soil should be treated with DCN at the rate of 2-5 kg ​​per hectare.

- Vinomyl 3-4 kg should be treated at the rate of per hectare by dissolving it in 4400 liters of water.

Harvesting - Harvesting of lettuce depends on which variety of it has been grown. Usually the first harvest should be done 40 days after sowing/planting. While top type varieties are harvested when they have good head formation, good size and become solid.

The variety used, method of growing and care of the crop are important. Usually 12-14 leaves are obtained per plant.

Yield - The yield of lettuce depends on many things, among which fertility of the land, variety grown, method of growing and care of the crop are important. Usually 12-14 leaves are obtained per plant. Up to 110-114 quintals of yield is obtained per hectare.