[heygrow]

Can anyone explain why my Cos lettuce goes limp within hours of picking. It dosen't seem to matter if I put it in the fridge or not. Similar with my runner beans which go soft very quickly, but not such a problem as they are fine after cooking.

Any thoughts?

[Ivor Backache]

Limpness is loss of moisture from the plant.
Water well before you pick them, say an hour or so,  the plant takes in the moisture and
you will notice the difference.

[azubah]

My lettuces do that too. The ones you buy from the supermarket don't do it. I agree that it is due to water loss, but why don't the bought ones do the same thing?

[DD.]

Try these, they're brilliant.

The lettuce I fished out of there the other day was crisper than one straight out of the garden.

Keep Fresh Bags

[Yorkie]

My lettuces do that too. The ones you buy from the supermarket don't do it. I agree that it is due to water loss, but why don't the bought ones do the same thing?

Probably due to how they are preserved and/or stored...

[SUTTY1]

My sister recently passed a tip onto me that she has tried and i now have and it works.

Try keeping them in the bags from inside cereal packets(cornflakes, cheerios etc)

[viettaclark]

I pick and rinse well in cold water, shake off most of the excess then put in a big bowl with an upturned saucer in the bottom. It keeps cold and crisp in the fridge and I use the top leaves first. It keeps for several days.

[Swing Swang]

@Ivor Backache - agree
@Azubah - commercial growers will do similar and pack to maintain the lettuce in optimum condition for as long as possible. Also the lettuce might have been living in water and have never even seen soil - look up deep pool floating raft hydroponics. Good clip of the process on YouTube:

Shh1cqVv5A8

[oldcow]

My lettuce lasts for a long time, here's what I do. I try to pick it up early in the morning, cut the leaves off the stem, wash them and leave them to soak in cold water for at least half an hour. After a spin in the salad spinner, I put the leaves in a tupperware container, put the lid on and keep in the fridge. It stays nice and crisp for days,.

[sarajane]

A friend of mine always pulls up her lettuce, including roots and when she gets home sits the lettuce over a bowl with the roots dangling in water and keeps it by her back oor till she wants to use it  -  she swears by this method

[heygrow]

Thanks for all the advice, I'll give it a try. I did put a letteuce in a water (roots down) and it did pick up and become crisp again.