Most gardeners know that both loose leaf and head style lettuce plants reach full size then are pulled or cut at the roots to harvest the whole lettuce.
However, did you know growing lettuce lets you prolong the season by harvesting it leaf by leaf or using a technique called cut-and-come-again.
Yes, lettuce leaves will grow back after harvesting. However, this will happen only if proper care and technique are used when harvesting all the lettuce.
The cut-and-come-again method is the process where you cut the entire lettuce plant parallel to the ground approximately 1 inch from the soil and leave it to grow again.
Planting a loose-head variety in large pots helps you protect the pot, gathering leaves from your lettuce around the plant.
You will notice that your lettuce plant may resemble a palm tree.
Cutting methods work best when carefully timed. It takes a little practice from one variety to another to learn how to cut the leaves properly that won’t kill the plant.
Lettuce is one of the vegetables that you can grow in water. This method works with any type of mature head or leaf lettuce. Most people say it works best with Roman hearts, but you can also try with red leaf, Boston leaf, and radicchio.