[xhappychickx]

Hi Everyone,
I am new to this growing your own veg lark and I have just started growing lettuce, though I didn't plant individual seeds and now I have a lot of lettuce all tangled. I have tried to separate but very fragile.
Should I just re-start planting my lettuce or is it too late?

Any help much appreciated

Paula

[Dreamer@45]

Hi Paula

Just be gentle as you untangle the seedling roots then pot on into individual pots to grow on. Lettuce are tougher than they look……Just make sure you keep them nicely watered and they should be fine. If you want a continuous supply of lettuce sow a few seeds every couple of weeks. Hope this helps.

[compostqueen]

Sowing lettuce can be tricky as the seed is so small, but it usually says on the packet to sow sparingly so you avoid the tangle. You live and learn  

I potted mine on at the weekend, quite successfully, and they are now all growing away happily in modules. I got three seedlings to a module. I'm using those trays with 12 modules in. I suppose 3 per module might be too many but I had sown far too many    Once potted on I water them from the bottom by placing the trays into a bigger tray filled with water with plant food in it.  They will go into the allotment and garden when they're big enough.  

You can sow lettuces direct if you wish as well to save on the potting on    I sowed far too many but I can use some as swops  

Good luck with them  

[xhappychickx]

Thanks for your advice

[hamstergbert]

The seeds are moderately small, certainly too small for my bologna-fingered hands to control when sowing.  However I drop them into a small piece of paper (usually 4" square notes) which has been folded sharply in half (point downwards of course) then use a pencil to ease the seeds out one by one into a 3" pot, with the end of the crease acting as my dispenser.  Usually 6 or 8 in an outer ring and a few more spaced in the middle. 

When they show and get true leaves there is enough room around each to ease them out separately for transplanting avoiding too much of a root tangle.  Easy then to use the paper to pop the unsown seeds back into the packet.

[Yorkie]

Nice tip 

I've used the folded paper, but just tapping it to release the seeds.  Doesn't work  - you still end up with clumps of seeds!  Will try the pencil trick next time.

[peapod]

With seeds such as lettuce and carrots, I usually use some sand when I sow.

I mix them up, sow as sparingly as I can and then run a finger along the sow line to even it out.
The sand shows up the different colour seeds which helps to pick them out for a more even sowing.

[xhappychickx]

Brilliant advice cheers all, I separated all my leaves out last night, surprisingly