[londoneddie]

hi i am a londoner but am presently in the south of Turkey, and a good friend has a problem that i can not answer. he has planted in an open field a great many iceberg lettuce. they have been in the ground now for over 3 months. usualy they would have been out of the ground by now, but this year has been very wet, raıny and over cast so they have not had enough good quality sun shine. about a week ago the rains stopped and a lot of the plants have now started to form heads, now about 2 inches, and not yet firm, they are healthy and taste great. there is no root rot, or mould etc, they seem healthy but small and late. they are not leggy, they just look like young plants. if i dıdnt know the age of these plants,  i would say they have another 3 to 5 weeks to go, but that would mean them  being over twice there usual growing cycle.

this crop is very important to my friend as if they still make there normal size he will be able to sell them and keep his family for another year, if they remain small they are worthless here. if he just waits and they turn out to be unsalable, he has lost any chance of taking the iceberg out and replanting, as the weather and water supply later in the year is not at all good.

so the question is has anyone before had experience of iceberg that have taken such a long time, but in the end have ended up good? also would you think feeding them now at such a late stage could help?

any help very much appreciated. eddie

[mumofstig]

I'm no expert but the weather is what controls how long the crop takes to
mature as much as 'time'.
If they are begining to heart up now can't see any reason why they would
not carry on until ready to pick....but realize that it will get hot there soon.
Not much help really am i sorry?

 

[londoneddie]

I'm no expert but the weather is what controls how long the crop takes to
mature as much as 'time'.
If they are begining to heart up now can't see any reason why they would
not carry on until ready to pick....but realize that it will get hot there soon.
Not much help really am i sorry?

 

thanks for your reply. the weather here will not start to get too hot for another couple of months yet. your reply has helped me stop worrying as much. the main problem here is small lettuce are not purchased, they simply throw them away. crazy system i know. he will only be alright if they make normal size amount one to one and a half pounds. thats now the question, also maybe extra nitrogen but i dont know if that would help.  what do you think?

[Alzera]

Hi londoneddie,

Was wondering what happend to that crop of lettuce...... I currently have the same problem, and I am in the western Cape of South Africa.

[Ice]

londoneddie hasn't been online since April 2nd so I doubt you will get an answer.  You could pop over to the welcome forum and introduce yourself Alzera.