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I am in love with Pirat, but it seems it be pretty susceptible to bottom rot -- really the only lettuce out of the bunch that I grow that seems to get it (it is the only butterhead I have been growing) .
I was wondering if anyone knew of any spectacular red butterheads along the lines of Pirat that are also resistant to bottom rot.
Thanks!
I was wondering if anyone knew of any spectacular red butterheads along the lines of Pirat that are also resistant to bottom rot.
Thanks!
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Re: red butterhead lettuce resistant to bottom rot?
Tue, March 31, 2009 - 8:43 PM
there is some info on this link about how to reduce lettuce bottom rot by adding more calcium
www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/oc/free...gv-2.pdf -
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Re: red butterhead lettuce resistant to bottom rot?
Tue, March 31, 2009 - 8:47 PM
oh - the calcium is more for tip burn. Bottom rot - is the lettuce in a container? Alot of bottom rot (or damping off) is from soil fungus and watering at the top of the soil. If you can grow them in a container try using a capillary mat to keep the soil most from the bottom up. -
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Re: red butterhead lettuce resistant to bottom rot?
Wed, April 1, 2009 - 4:42 AMThanks for posting and trying to help :-)
Containers aren't an option. I'm working in a garden for a community of people, and they go through a lot of lettuce. Pirat is everyone's fave, and it is the only one out of a bunch of lettuce varietiesand types that we grew last year that gets the rot. I do rotate the place that the letuce is grown, since I was aware that it is a fungus, and that hasn't helped either. That is why I am on the track now of trying to find a BR resistant variety.
Pirat was the only butterhead in the bunch, though, and this year I'm gonna try out a few other red varieties, and some green as well and see how they do. I am just attached to Pirat lol, it is sooo sweet and buttery and soft and yummy, and the color is stunning! People often commented on it, both when it was served, and if they saw it in the garden.
Maybe I will see online if I can fine any sites that show trials of varieties...wonder if they exist.
Thanks again for the ideas.
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Re: red butterhead lettuce resistant to bottom rot?
Wed, April 1, 2009 - 6:15 AMYeah, the butterheads sure get bottom rot. Around here they do at least, depending on the year and season. I quit planting them except in blends with other lettuces. I like planting lettuce blends with many different varieties to hedge my bet on lettuce. I garden for a community too, and folks appreciate the variety. Makes for a very pretty planting. Having all one type increases the chances of some disease wiping out whole planting. I always plant in plug trays and transplant out with good spacing between plants, and that probably helps on the bottom rot problem.
Wild Garden Seed company has a blend that is my favorite. It has 70 or so different varieties.
www.wildgardenseed.com/product_info.php -
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Re: red butterhead lettuce resistant to bottom rot?
Thu, April 2, 2009 - 6:43 PMThanks, Wil.
So you are planting the butterheads in the midst of other varities for full sized lettuce, not just for like baby mesculun sized lettuce? That sounds like an idea, I'll try that out. I'm gonna also do some in an area this time that hasn't been used at all for a few years, but I'll mix it like you mentioned around there to. I don't use those plug trays (I've either done small pots or little soil blocks), but I definately like starting lettuce in trays first more than broadcasting or direct seeding.
Frank Morton is great. I worked at a seed farm years ago and we did some lettuce trials there (that is where I discovered Pirat --- though we didn't come across bottom rot issues there) and we were growing a bunch of his varieties. One of them was closely rivaling Pirat imo, though I can't remember which one it was. Might have been blushed butter oak. I actually forgot about Wild Garden Seeds, though, so thanks for the link. I'll see if there is anything there buttery and supposedly resistant to BR...and try that out.
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