Hi Scott,

Yes, this is a problem. I find the lettuce season to be very short. Very young lettuce can be bitter. And old lettuce is bitter too (when it bolts). I would grow it in a cooler, partly shady part of the garden. I grow a mix from seed. Try the red kinds or oak leaf...

Do Maryland Farmers grow lettuce?

It may be bitter simply because of the heat. Most lettuces are cool-weather crops and must be sown very early in the spring, or in the fall. You might want to try growing several different kinds of lettuce (you may have to order seed to get a good selection) to find a few that do well under your conditions--in particular look for heat-tolerant varieties.

Red Sails

We grow lotsof different leaf lettuce and it lasts 3-5 weeks. As soon it starts getting hot, we cover it so it is shaded but it still gets bitter . We stopped eating our lettuce about 2 weeks ago. I live in Towson. When it is not bitter, it is terrific. We start it from seed outside usually in early april.

I did Mascera this year (another red type) and it still going strong in Potomac, MD. We cut and it comes again quickly as well. I also have the lettece somewhat shaded (but not a whole lot) behind some large zebra grass plantings.

It's now the end of June, and our lettuce is getting bitter now. We got a few good weeks.

The arugala was great -- it's got a different taste.

We planted some small plants, but they didn't grow well this spring. I find it hard to get them growing well in the cooler weather -- they're supposed to be a cool weather crop.

Leaf lettuce during cool weather is SOOOO sweat but as the heat rises and the sun intensifies it's starts to turn bitter. It can still be picked before it bolts but when you pick it makes the difference. I pick first thing in the morning before the sun rises. The juice that causes the bitterness has retreated back into the roots through the night. I pull the whole plant and take it into the kitchen where I immediately cut off the roots past the outer leaves. I let it sit a few minutes to allow the any juice to run out and then pull the leaves and wash them. I shake off any excess water and put it in a plastic bag for the night. After that I make a salad and tear it up!