Menu Close

Is a lettuce plant a flowering plant?

Is a lettuce plant a flowering plant?

Lettuce is typically harvested before it flowers as a leafy head. Gardeners and farmers will leave a portion of their lettuce crop intentionally letting it flower and seed. If you’ve been harvesting leaves from your lettuce plants without taking the head, they will eventually begin flowering.

Do lettuce leaves flower?

Why Lettuce Has Flowers Cool season annual vegetables, such as spinach and lettuce, bolt when chilly spring days turn into warm spring days. Bolting lettuce plants become bitter and sharp in taste as they shoot towards the sky. Lettuce bolt will occur when daytime temperatures go above 75 degrees F. (24 C.)

Why is my lettuce flowering?

Bolting, when the plants shift from leafy growth into flower production, is caused by a number of factors including high temperatures, long daylight hours, and less moisture – in essence – summer. Lettuce does offer a few clues when it’s about to bolt.

What is plant bolting?

One of the biggest nuisances in the summer vegetable garden is bolting – when crops put on a vertical growth spurt to flower and set seed before the vegetables are ready for harvest. The result is inedible, bitter-tasting leaves or poor-quality produce with little that can be salvaged.

Can lettuce go to seed?

Yes, lettuce gets seeds. Most people never see them because they pull out the plant long before it has a chance to set seed. One lettuce plant produces a ton of seeds. So you really only need to allow one or two from each of your favorite varieties to go to seed.

Are lettuce blossoms edible?

Let the lettuce continue growing – not awfully attractive but maybe the flowers will help attract and support some populations of beneficial insects. Or you can always eat the lettuce – it’s bound to be bitter and not the best tasting romaine around, but the leaves and even the tiny yellow flowers are still edible.

What plants are in the lettuce family?

Daisy family
Lettuce/Family

What plant family is lettuce in?

Is lettuce in the daisy family?

Plants in the Asteraceae family include: lettuce, daisies, sunflowers, chrysanthemums, asters, dandelions, goldenrod, coneflowers, thistles, artichokes, sunflowers, dahlias, marigolds, zinnias, asters, chamomile, chicory, sage, tarragon, ragweed, thistle, sagebrush, and yarrow.