Heat Today will be hot in the south of the Netherlands: up to 30 degrees! Check whether your reservoir is still full, whether the mix is still moist, shade vulnerable plants around midday, and wait with sowing until it cools down.
Sowing and growing Red Crispy Lettuce
This delicious Salanova lettuce variety grows quickly, bolts late, and the heads develop a huge amount of sturdy leaves that are all approximately the same size.
What is red Crispy lettuce?
Leaf lettuce includes all types of lettuce that do not form true heads but have loose leaves. When harvesting, you pick the outer leaves and leave the core so it can continue to grow.
The red Crispy lettuce is a Salanova variation with sturdy leaves that remain relatively small, but more than make up for it with their enormous quantity.
The leaves also have a unique shape, deeply lobed with pointed tips and a beautiful red, sometimes almost purple color. Super beautiful for your salads 😀
Moreover, the plants bolt much later than other varieties. So you can keep harvesting them for a long time.
The red Crispy lettuce is a Salanova variation with sturdy leaves that remain relatively small, but more than make up for it with their enormous quantity.
The leaves also have a unique shape, deeply lobed with pointed tips and a beautiful red, sometimes almost purple color. Super beautiful for your salads 😀
Moreover, the plants bolt much later than other varieties. So you can keep harvesting them for a long time.
Another advantage: slugs leave red lettuce alone much more than green.
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Vitamins and minerals in loose-leaf lettuce
Loose-leaf lettuce doesn't contain a lot of vitamins and minerals, but what it does have is good for our body and health. And every little bit helps, right?
It contains a fair amount of vitamin A, as well as some B11 and C, iron, and kalium. And lots of fiber: great for your intestines 🙂
It contains a fair amount of vitamin A, as well as some B11 and C, iron, and kalium. And lots of fiber: great for your intestines 🙂
More about our Red Crispy lettuce seeds
This tasty lettuce variety grows quickly, is slow to bolt, and produces heads with an enormous number of firm leaves that are all roughly the same size.
Variety: Salanova Crispy (red)
Family: leaf
Plants per square: 1
Height: 15 to 25 cm (front or middle row)
Start seeds indoors: March to August
Sowing depth: 0.5 to 1 cm
Germination: 2 to 8 days at 15 to 18°C
Time to harvest: from 6 to 7 weeks
Sunlight: grows in sun or shade
Note: These seeds come in clay pellets and are therefore quite expensive, but each head gives you plenty of lettuce over a long period. The packet contains 12 pellets, each with 1 seed.
What do you need to grow your own red Crispy lettuce?
To harvest as much and as quickly as possible, start the seeds indoors and only move the Crispy lettuce into your raised bed once it has become a small plant.
For starting the seeds and the first four weeks, you'll need:
For starting the seeds and the first four weeks, you'll need:
- MM seed-starting mix
- a small MM-Airpot
- cling film
- Red Crispy lettuce seeds
Once the plant gets a square of its own, you'll need:
- one 30 x 30 cm square with a light, nutritious soil mix
- a spot with at least 6 hours of sunlight a day
In other words: an MM-Mini, or a square in one of our raised beds, filled with MM-mix.
Red Crispy lettuce is very easy to grow in this soil mix. Poor-quality potting compost makes it much harder and the results will be disappointing, so don't skimp on the mix.
Red Crispy lettuce is very easy to grow in this soil mix. Poor-quality potting compost makes it much harder and the results will be disappointing, so don't skimp on the mix.
How do you sow and grow red Crispy lettuce?
This Salanova lettuce is featured in the free Makkelijke Moestuin app. If you use it, it guides you from seed to harvest.
Each vegetable goes through several stages - we call these levels. The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and regularly checks if your plants are ready to move on to the next level.
So, you don't need to know in advance how to successfully grow red Crispy lettuce. But if you enjoy reading about it, I'll tell you now what the whole process will look like.
Each vegetable goes through several stages - we call these levels. The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and regularly checks if your plants are ready to move on to the next level.
So, you don't need to know in advance how to successfully grow red Crispy lettuce. But if you enjoy reading about it, I'll tell you now what the whole process will look like.
Level 1: Pre-sow Red Crispy lettuce
Salanova varieties like this Crispy type take about six to seven weeks to grow from a seed into a plant that's ready for its first harvest.
During the early weeks, they’re still pretty vulnerable to bad weather and pests like slugs. That's why you should start the seeds indoors and, about five weeks later, transplant the young plant into your bed. This way, you can make the most out of your garden patches.
During the early weeks, they’re still pretty vulnerable to bad weather and pests like slugs. That's why you should start the seeds indoors and, about five weeks later, transplant the young plant into your bed. This way, you can make the most out of your garden patches.
This is how you pre-sow:
- Fill an airpot with MM pre-sowing mix
- Place 1 seed in the mix: 1 cm deep
- Cover the pot with a piece of clear plastic wrap
- Place the pot in a cool spot (between 15 and 18°C)
Level 2 and 3: Crispy leaf lettuce seedlings on the windowsill
As soon as you see the seedling emerge, remove the foil and from that moment place it in a light and cool spot. For example, on the windowsill of an unheated bedroom or in a cold greenhouse if you have one.
In the following weeks, keep the mix moist and rotate the pot a quarter turn every day. This prevents the seedling from growing crooked.
After about 3 weeks, the seedling has grown into a small plant, and it's time for the next level.
Level 3: Move outdoors
A few days later, the seedling will be large enough to go outdoors.
In March and April, keep the pot somewhere sheltered from frost and bad weather.
From May onwards, even that is no longer necessary. You can, for example, sink the pot into an empty square or an MM-Mini. You can easily fit nine pots in one square:
In March and April, keep the pot somewhere sheltered from frost and bad weather.
From May onwards, even that is no longer necessary. You can, for example, sink the pot into an empty square or an MM-Mini. You can easily fit nine pots in one square:
This lets you make the best possible use of your squares. The plant only needs a square of its own once one becomes available.
For now, check regularly that the MM-mix in the pot is still moist and protect the seedling from slugs. That's it.
For now, check regularly that the MM-mix in the pot is still moist and protect the seedling from slugs. That's it.
Level 9: Place your plant in an MM-bak or an MM-mini
Your plant is now large enough to move into a square of its own.
Make sure the root ball is thoroughly moist by standing the pot in a shallow container of water for a while. Then carefully remove the plant from the pot.
Make a hole in the centre of your chosen square, pour in a little water and place the plant in it at the same depth as it was in the pot.
Gently firm the MM-mix around it and you're done 🙂
Make sure the root ball is thoroughly moist by standing the pot in a shallow container of water for a while. Then carefully remove the plant from the pot.
Make a hole in the centre of your chosen square, pour in a little water and place the plant in it at the same depth as it was in the pot.
Gently firm the MM-mix around it and you're done 🙂
Level 10: Harvesting red Crispy lettuce
At this stage, about 2 weeks after planting it out, the plant is ready for its first harvest.
Cut or pick a few leaves from the outside of the plant, close to the ground. Leave the small leaves in the centre so the plant can keep growing from the inside. This lets you continue harvesting for up to 6 weeks.
Cut or pick a few leaves from the outside of the plant, close to the ground. Leave the small leaves in the centre so the plant can keep growing from the inside. This lets you continue harvesting for up to 6 weeks.
What do you use lettuce for?
The name says it all: you use the leaves for salads. The leaves are also very tasty in green smoothies or on a healthy sandwich.
Start harvesting once the leaves are about 10 cm. At that point, the leaves are still very tender: perfect for salads. But even when the leaves are a bit larger, they remain tasty.
Only when the plants are over 2 months old do the leaves become tougher and slightly bitter.
At that point, use it for a mash, stir-fry, or make a tasty soup with it 😀
Start harvesting once the leaves are about 10 cm. At that point, the leaves are still very tender: perfect for salads. But even when the leaves are a bit larger, they remain tasty.
Only when the plants are over 2 months old do the leaves become tougher and slightly bitter.
At that point, use it for a mash, stir-fry, or make a tasty soup with it 😀
The following levels
During the next levels, keep harvesting Red Crispy lettuce until you no longer enjoy eating the leaves raw in salads.
At that point, harvest all the remaining leaves for a stir-fry, and
At that point, harvest all the remaining leaves for a stir-fry, and
empty the square or your MM-Mini and prepare it for the next vegetable.
So: what’s stopping you from sowing and growing your own Crispy lettuce?
It’s a tasty and easy vegetable to grow, you can harvest it for a long time, and the leaves look fantastic.
If you regularly start seeds in a pot, you’ll always have some plants ready to fill any empty patches throughout the season. This way, you can enjoy it (almost) all year round.
Plus: our materials + app make it almost impossible to fail 😀
If you regularly start seeds in a pot, you’ll always have some plants ready to fill any empty patches throughout the season. This way, you can enjoy it (almost) all year round.
Plus: our materials + app make it almost impossible to fail 😀
Buy your red leaf lettuce seeds here or put together a complete package:
Enjoy!
