I've had lettuce, cabbage and other cole plants go to seed in my hydrogarden while I was giving them plenty of care. It seems to me that the plants age coupled with the air temperature are factors. On a hot day, putting the garden in the shade will not make any difference.

I was thinking of trying a small experiment that would use a styrofoam cooler. I could then take some of the nutriant solution and freeze it every night and add it to the water in the morning. I'm thinking it will keep the overall temp of the plant down and keep it from going to seed.

Lettuce flowering is at least partly controlled by the daylength, termed photoperiodism. It flowers when the daylength exceeds a certain value, so is called a long day plant. It will usually flower in early summer.

You might be able to prevent flowering if you kept the daylength below the critical value.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tripping the Light Switch Fantastic

Wow! Thanks for the info! Maybe if I just put a good box over the top of the plants and remove it in the mornings I could have lettuce all summer.

-Monica

Sorry guys,

Lettuce is a day neutral crop and daylenght has nothing to do with its bolting behavior (flowering--> seed). Bolting occurs normally when the lettuce are exposed to high air temperature (30 degrees C and above). Cooling the water temperature down will not even help.

There are, however bolt resistant/tolerant lettuce varieties. Ask your seed dealer for technical description of your seeds. They should know. Bolting - is a defensive mechanism of the plant to reproduce itself under the presence of "stress" (survival mechanism). In the case of lettuce, it is high temperature.

Cheers,

shin

I'm new in hydroponics, I heard lettuce is good for starters and i bought aquarium, pumps and lettuce seed and start to plant it on oasis foam. when it was about an inch, it started to thin. I tought they nid sunlight so I let sun to it. I need help from anyone who could teach me growing lettuce and what variety is the least sensitive to temperature.