Content
Iceberg lettuce is grown both in open ground and in home containers. Caring for the crop is easy, but you need to follow certain rules.
Description and origin
Iceberg lettuce, ice lettuce, or ice lettuce is an unusual plant whose shape most closely resembles cabbage. It has crisp but tender white-green leaves that form a medium-density head. The taste of the plates is sweetish with a slight bitterness; the product is well suited for salads, sandwiches and cold appetizers.
The weight of Iceberg lettuce heads is 0.3-1 kg
The culture first appeared in America at the beginning of the twentieth century. It got its name because it was customary to keep the heads of cabbage in ice boxes. This kept them fresh and crispy. At first the salad was called “ice” or “ice”, and then this name was transformed into “iceberg”.
Advantages and disadvantages
Iceberg lettuce has many benefits. The advantages of the product include:
- long shelf life - about three weeks;
- original taste;
- pleasant crunchy leaf structure;
- long growing season - you can collect greens from spring to late autumn.
However, ice salad has certain weaknesses. In particular, he:
- takes up a lot of space in the garden;
- often suffers from rot;
- is affected by slugs in rainy weather.
With proper care of the plant, deficiencies can be reduced to a minimum.
How to grow iceberg lettuce outdoors
Growing iceberg lettuce in the ground is quite easy. The culture is unpretentious, although it needs some care.
Site selection
Before planting ice lettuce for cultivation, you must first of all pay attention to choosing a site. Well-lit and warm places, protected from cold drafts, are suitable for the culture. The plant needs loose, fertile, loamy soil with a high humus content. Ice lettuce is best suited to alkaline or neutral soil with a pH value of 6-7 units, but it is better not to plant it in acidic areas.
When growing, it is recommended to follow the rules of crop rotation. Iceberg lettuce cannot be planted after any cruciferous vegetables; in addition, the crop should not be placed in one place for two years in a row. It is allowed to sow the plant after celery and legumes, potatoes and grains.
Seed preparation
Before planting ice lettuce for subsequent cultivation, it is necessary to subject the seeds to special preparation. The material is processed as follows:
- Sort through the seeds and discard all small and damaged grains.
- Healthy-looking planting material is poured into a 5% saline solution and left for 15 minutes.
- At the end of the period, the seeds that have floated to the surface are thrown away, and those that have sunk to the bottom are washed.
- Soak the material in a 1% potassium permanganate solution for ten minutes to disinfect.
It is recommended to wrap the treated seeds in a damp cloth and place them in a warm, well-ventilated place. If the ice lettuce has time to hatch slightly before planting, its germination in open ground will accelerate.
To speed up the development of Iceberg lettuce when growing, you can soak the seeds before planting in any growth stimulant.
Planting seeds in open ground
Iceberg lettuce is planted in open ground using a very simple algorithm. First of all, a site is prepared for the crop - in the fall, the soil is dug up to a depth of 15 cm and fertilized with compost, wood ash and complex minerals. The further diagram looks like this:
- In the spring, with the onset of warm weather, the beds are carefully loosened, moistened and furrows 3 cm deep are prepared in them. Leave approximately 40 cm between rows.
- Seeds are sown in the soil at a distance of 25 cm.
- Sprinkle the material on top with a layer of earth no thicker than 1 cm.
- Moisten the beds again with a spray bottle.
It is allowed to sow crop seeds more densely. But after the seedlings form, the greens will need to be thinned out, otherwise individual plants will interfere with each other. Iceberg lettuce should be sown in open ground for cultivation no earlier than mid-April after the snow melts.
Sowing before winter
Iceberg lettuce can be planted not only in spring, but also in autumn.The procedure is performed at the end of October or beginning of November at an outside temperature of about 1-3 °C. The seeds are planted in dry soil to a depth of 1.5 cm, and then the bed is properly insulated with dry grass and spruce branches.
The advantage of autumn sowing is that seedlings appear 1-2 weeks earlier in the spring. Lettuce grows stronger and is less likely to suffer from fungi and pests. But in regions with harsh climates, planting at the end of the season is rarely practiced, since a significant part of the seeds simply dies during the winter.
Growing Iceberg lettuce seedlings
You can plant Iceberg lettuce first as seedlings. The method is practiced in Siberia and the Urals, where spring comes late and sowing seeds in open ground is not very convenient. Planting at home is carried out as follows:
- Prepare peat cups or small plastic containers for growing Iceberg lettuce seeds.
- Nutrient soil is made from garden soil, humus and sand.
- Disinfect containers and substrate.
- Iceberg lettuce seeds are washed and disinfected in potassium permanganate.
- Sow the material in growing containers, deepening it no more than 1 cm.
- Spray with a spray bottle and cover with film.
For the first time, the containers are placed in a moderately lit place at a temperature of about 17 °C. After sprouts form, remove the film and move the containers to a sunny window. It is advisable to increase the temperature to 25 °C.
Around the middle or end of May, the seedlings will reach 8-10 cm in height and will be ready to be transferred to open ground. Iceberg lettuce is planted in the growing area on a warm and dry day, trying not to destroy the earthen ball at the roots of the seedlings.
Growing Iceberg Lettuce in a Greenhouse
If the summer weather is expected to be cloudy and cold, you can grow Iceberg lettuce in a closed greenhouse - it is easier to control temperature conditions and humidity. In early spring, it is necessary to prepare the soil for the crop - it should be light, well-drained and nutritious. You can make a substrate from garden soil mixed with sand and turf.
Typically, crops for cultivation are sown directly into the ground, bypassing the seedling stage. The rules are the same as when planting ice lettuce on the site - the seeds are placed in furrows to a depth of 1.5 cm. When growing, seedlings are watered moderately, trying not to waterlog the soil, and the beds are regularly loosened.
From time to time, it is recommended to fertilize Iceberg lettuce in a greenhouse with complex minerals containing potassium, phosphorus and magnesium. The greenhouse needs to be ventilated every evening - the plant does not tolerate a lack of fresh air.
The temperature in the greenhouse when growing Iceberg lettuce should be 20-22 °C
How to Grow Iceberg Lettuce on a Windowsill
Iceberg cabbage can be grown at home without transferring the lettuce to open ground. For the culture, prepare wide containers with sides of 10-14 cm, and drainage holes are made at the bottom of the containers. The soil is selected to be nutritious and light, with the addition of humus and river sand.
Before planting for cultivation, the seeds of the crop are disinfected in a light manganese solution. This allows you to protect the ice salad from possible fungal diseases and pests. Sowing of crops is carried out according to the following scheme:
- A drainage layer is placed at the bottom of the container, and a disinfected substrate is placed on top.
- The seeds are laid out at small intervals of 3 cm to a depth of no more than 1.5 cm.
- Sprinkle the growing material on top with the remaining soil.
- Spray the soil generously from a spray bottle, and then cover the container with cling film.
At first, the container is kept at a temperature of 18 ° C and ventilated daily. After greenery has formed, the film is removed and the box is moved to a well-lit place.
The technology for growing Iceberg lettuce at home is generally no different from the standard one. Seedlings need to be watered regularly - the soil in the container should not dry out, but it should not be waterlogged either. If necessary, the plant is illuminated up to 12 hours a day with phytolamps.
Every two weeks, low concentrations of nitrogen fertilizers are added to the irrigation water. Fertilizing promotes the rapid development of green mass and allows you to harvest the first crop earlier.
Iceberg lettuce care
When growing Iceberg lettuce in open ground or at home, the crop requires quality care. It comes down to a few simple steps.
Watering
Ice lettuce loves moisture, but does not tolerate waterlogging. When growing, it should be watered sparingly, only after the top layer of soil has dried. Typically, in open soil, moistening is carried out once every 2-3 days in the absence of precipitation. It is advisable to water Iceberg lettuce in the evening to avoid burning the leaves.
After the heads have formed, watering of Iceberg lettuce should be reduced to a minimum.
Top dressing
When growing iceberg lettuce, you will need to add fertilizer to the soil from time to time. For the first time, nutrients are placed in the soil on the site even before planting the crop; complex minerals are used.
During the period of formation of heads of cabbage, ice lettuce during cultivation is fertilized with a solution of bird droppings in a concentration of 30 g per 10 liters of water. It is also allowed to add wood ash to the water for irrigation from time to time - it is a valuable source of calcium and phosphorus.
Shelter
In order to safely grow Iceberg lettuce at home, for the first time after sowing the seeds, the container must be kept under film. Agricultural rules recommend using shelter even when planting crops in open ground. Agrofibre or other non-woven material should be stretched over the beds.
When growing ice salad at home and in the garden, the greens need to be regularly ventilated. Remove the cover after the seedlings have become a little stronger, or at temperatures above 20 °C.
Weeding
Iceberg lettuce, when grown in the Moscow region and other regions, requires periodic loosening of the soil. The procedure improves soil breathability and avoids root rot. The soil is loosened very carefully so as not to damage the feeding shoots of the plant. The procedure is first carried out a month after sowing the crop, when the seedlings are a little stronger.
Subsequently, the procedure is performed every 2-3 weeks. Loosening is combined with weeding the beds to remove weeds, which take away nutrients from the ice salad.
Diseases and pests
Iceberg lettuce may suffer from some fungal infections and parasites when grown. The danger for him is:
- snails and slugs - gastropods love to eat succulent leaves and can completely destroy plantings;
Snails and slugs appear on iceberg lettuce in rainy weather
- cruciferous flea beetle - a small insect settles on the underside of the plant plates and sucks the juice from the greens;
Spraying with Aktara or Iskra works well against cruciferous flea beetles.
- powdery mildew - lettuce leaves become covered with a light coating, then begin to turn yellow and dry out.
Powdery mildew occurs on iced lettuce usually under waterlogged conditions in cold weather
If there are symptoms of fungal diseases, the plant is treated with fungicides - Fitosporin, Boscalid or Iprodione. To prevent re-infection, reduce the intensity of watering - most often, diseases develop precisely because of excessive humidity.
Harvest and storage
Head lettuce usually ripens 1.5-3 months after sowing. You need to focus on the diameter of the forks - they should reach 5-10 cm in width.
Harvesting is carried out in the first half of the day, while the air is relatively cool. The heads of cabbage are cut with a sharp knife, and then immediately placed in a plastic bag and put in the refrigerator to cool. The plant can be used fresh soon after collection. You can also leave the ice salad in the refrigerator. At a temperature of about 5 °C it can last a week.
In hot weather, the heads of cabbage ripen quite quickly. In cold summers, lettuce development slows down; it is usually harvested no earlier than 2.5 months after planting.
After cutting, Iceberg lettuce produces new ovaries for the future harvest.
Conclusion
Growing iceberg lettuce is a fairly simple task. This unusual crop is grown in greenhouses, in open ground and at home. If you provide regular but moderate watering and high-quality fertilizing, the plant will produce several harvests during the season.
