Hi Alina,

I'm in Ohio and my lettuce sprouted several days ago...but it seems to be moving really, really slow. Like not even any leaves yet. It's not even really green. Just a weird sort of white and pink. Just curious what yours have looked like? (sorry, I know this isn't answering your question, but I couldn't help myself)

Amy

Well, mine look like two little round, green circles connected together. :) They don't cover the whole bottom of the containers yet so I imagine there are some that haven't sprouted yet since I sowed fairly liberally. Maybe we have different lettuce varieties? I dunno! This is my first time growing lettuce ever let along WSing it!

Hope both of our lettuces do well. :)

Alina

If you find they are stretching, that's a sign that they need more light.

Sometimes, in the beginning, you can let them stay in shady areas until they start getting their second set of leaves.

Lettuce doesn't like high temperatures. It likes to be cool and a moist, so some shade would be good while they're little.

Also, beware of snails and slugs if you move them anywhere on the ground.

Well, cool and moist is all we've been having here lately...rainy and 40 degrees every stinking day. I should have acres of lettuce by now! Alina, this is my first year WSing and growing lettuce, so we're in this together!

Mine aren't stretching, they're just sitting there. Maybe I'm expecting too much, or maybe I'm just jealous of Alina's fields of green. Sigh...

I'm in zone 6-7 and mine are the same, just the first two leaves. They are not moving. They are just waiting for the right time to send out the ruffled leaves.

I think the pink and white ones sound cool. Don't worry because those colors are natural in the lettuce family. I'm growing three different red ones this year: new fire, lollo rossa, and trout and can't wait to see what those look like--none of these have sprouted yet, though.

Dappled shade my dear. Mine have sprouted and are just sitting there. The seeds know what to do.

Thanks Bakemom! :-)

Tansy, I do have a mix (with 8 different heirloom varieties in a single packet) so that may be why I have some pink sprouts.

Off to build our garden beds...yee haw!

I'd be tempted to transplant them. Is your bed for them ready yet?
I'd wait a couple more weeks and then transplant them, covering them with a clear tarp at night and on cold days if your temps are still at freezing. Lettuce likes cool temps, but I don't know that it would taste so good if it got nipped by the cold.
I have harvested WSed lettuce as early as mid to late April.

Linda

Well, I spoke too soon...I checked my lettuce today after a very sunny (although brisk) day and I have lots and lots of sprouts now! Many of them have their seed leaves, too. They germinated about a week ago and just seemed "suspended"...which is good, because if the darn things are ready too early, the bed I need to put them in won't be!

Amy

Thanks everyone!

Tansy, I'll watch for stretching. And thanks for the slug and snail tip!

Amy, I think pink lettuce sounds super cool. I'm sitting here thinking that fields of pink and white sound much cooler than regular ol' green so I'll be jealous of you, too. ;)

Linda, I wish the beds were ready. I meant to have them ready and then I went and got pregnant and sick! So I'll just be hoping for some dry days to get the garden ready and get them out there!

Alina

Well Alina, my sprouts are all green now, so no more pretty pink and white. I know I'll have some pretty red leaf lettuces and some splotchy green/red in there, though. I got a mix from SSE that includes the following: Amish Deer Tongue, Australian Yellowleaf, Bronze Arrowhead, Forellenschuss, Lollo Rossa, Pablo, Red Velvet and Reine des Glaces. Sounds fun, huh?

Amy

Farfar:
Those varieties sounds GORGEOUS!

Watch out for slugs and the bad white butterfly!

Thanks Tansy! Unfortunately like a dumb newbie I sowed almost an entire packet (probably at least 100 seeds) in a single flat, all at once. Doh! I'm going to sow Tennis Ball lettuce successively (another SSE variety, heirloom picked by Slow Food as an ARK variety).

White butterfly...do you mean the cabbage moth? Do they eat lettuce? I thought they only ate, well, cabbage family stuff. :-)

I think when it's time to plant these little babies out, they're going to go to bed with a snug little row cover! I can't bear the thought of my hard work being decimated!

In my experience....
winter-sow or direct sow I've never had lettuce seedlings succumb to a few hours of frost.
Last year I did both ways and the Jericho were the wintersown ones. I kept the new sprouts in full sun and the tops off during the day :D