Odd little bumps on leaves and funny protuberances on your plant’s foliage may be a sign of pest, bacterial, or fungal problems. These galls may look like they are hurting the plant’s health, but leaf galls on plants are actually harmless.
Why does my lettuce have spikes?
Bolting is a process that occurs with many leafy, cool season crops like lettuce, spinach, parsley and kale. All the plant is doing is putting up a flower spike to produce seeds for the next generation of plants.
What does mold on lettuce look like?
The powdery mildew fungus appears as a gray-white, powdery growth on both upper and lower sides of lettuce leaves. Such infections may cause deformity and buckling of the leaves. In advanced stages, leaves may begin to dry out and turn brown.
Can I eat lettuce that has white spots?
The white sap is a milky fluid made of latex that’s naturally found in the lettuce and is completely harmless.
What are common diseases in lettuce?
Lettuces Diseases
- Downy Mildew. Downy mildew is a fungus that can affect up to 80 percent of acreage once established.
- Leaf Spot. This disease comes from weeds and typically affects less than five percent of acreage.
- Lettuce Mosaic Virus.
- Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus.
- Bottom Rot.
- Drop.
- Bacterial Diseases.
- Chemical.
Can you eat lettuce after it bolts?
Can You Eat Bolted Lettuce? Yes, you can eat bolted lettuce but you probably won’t want to. Once lettuce begins to bolt it starts producing compounds called sesquiterpene lactones. They are the plant’s natural defense mechanism to ward off pests so that it can successfully produce seeds.
What do you do after lettuce bolts?
Here are five things to do with bolted lettuce.
- Donate Bolted Lettuce to an Animal Shelter.
- Cut Plants Back to the Ground; Let Them Resprout.
- Let Plants Flower for Beneficial Insects and Pollinators.
- Collect the Seeds for Next Year’s Garden.
- Use Bolted Lettuce as a Trap Crop.
What does blight look like on lettuce?
Lesions enlarge, turn brown, dry out and may fall out giving the leaves a tattered appearance. Numerous fruiting bodies (pycnidia) develop with leaf spots. Symptoms of bacterial leaf spot start as small brown spots with chlorotic haloes occurring on the lower leaves first.
Is there a virus in lettuce?
There are several sources of the Lettuce mosaic virus. Since the virus is seedborne in lettuce, infected seed is a primary way of introducing lettuce mosaic to fields. The virus can infect numerous crops and weeds, thereby creating reservoirs of the virus.
Can you cut mold off lettuce?
Fruits and vegetables, FIRM
Cut off at least 1 inch around and below the mold spot (keep the knife out of the mold itself so it will not cross-contaminate other parts of the produce). Small mold spots can be cut off FIRM fruits and vegetables with low moisture content. It’s difficult for mold to penetrate dense foods.
When should you not eat lettuce?
Lettuce is spoiled if its leaves are super soft, slimy, largely discolored, or the whole head smells off. If only the outermost leaves are bad and the rest is okay, you can discard those outer leaves and use whatever is left. How to store lettuce? Store lettuce in a half-open plastic bag in the crisper drawer.
Does lettuce go bad in the fridge?
Loose leaf lettuce can last seven to ten days when properly stored, but head lettuce lasts much longer than that. Left intact and unwashed, head lettuce will last one to three weeks in the fridge. In comparison to other leafy greens, though, lettuce reigns as the long shelf life champion.
How do you wash lettuce?
Swish Greens in Cool Water
Fill a large bowl or a clean sink with plenty of cool water. Add the lettuce or greens and swish them around to loosen and remove any dirt. Dirt and debris will sink to the bottom while the greens will magically float above all that mess.
What does diseased lettuce look like?
Lettuce Mosaic Virus
In lettuce, symptoms of infection include stunting; chlorosis or bleach-like spotting; dull, misshapen leaves; blistering; and ragged leaf margins. In short, lettuce mosaic virus is relatively obvious and easy to spot once you know what to look for.
What’s wrong with my lettuce leaves?
Insufficient soil moisture or overly wet soil can both result in poor growth and wilting. Lettuce suffering from drought stress wilts quickly and fails to put on new growth. Wet and soggy soil causes the plant’s roots to drown and rot. Leaves may begin to yellow and wilt, or the whole plant may become stunted.
Which lettuce has E coli?
romaine
FDA says E. coli outbreak associated with romaine lettuce is over
| Date | Vehicle | Confirmed Cases |
|---|---|---|
| July 1995 | Lettuce (leafy green; red; romaine) | 74 |
| Sept. 1995 | Lettuce (romaine) | 20 |
| Sept. 1995 | Lettuce (iceberg) | 30 |
| Oct. 1995 | Lettuce (iceberg; unconfirmed) | 11 |
What does bolting lettuce look like?
But when temperatures start to rise, lettuce plants begin flowering, or bolting. You’ll notice the main stem starting to grow tall with lots of space between the leaves. Then, the leaves turn bitter and lose their juiciness.
How do you pick leaf lettuce so it keeps growing?
Plan to harvest your lettuce leaves in the morning, when they’ll be at their crispest. Cut the outer lettuce leaves about 1 inch above the crown. This protects the crown so the lettuce can continue growing. Cut off the amount of lettuce needed when the leaves reach a length between 3 and 6 inches.
What happens when lettuce bolts?
When plants flower, it’s generally considered a good thing; however, in vegetables grown for their leaves, such as lettuce, spinach, cabbage, and other cole crops, bolting causes the flavor to turn bitter and the leaves to get smaller and tougher, making them inedible.
How do you stop bolting?
How can bolting be prevented?
- Plant in the right season.
- Avoid stress.
- Use row cover or plant in the shade of other plants to keep greens and lettuce cool as the season warms.
- Cover young broccoli or cauliflower plants and near-mature bulbing onions during a cold snap to protect them from bolting.
Do lettuce plants keep producing?
Lettuce plants will continue to produce new leaves until the plant begins to flower and make new seeds. When mature plants begin to set lettuce seed like this it is called “bolting” in gardening circles. When you see this happening — a sturdy seed stalk will emerge from the center of the plant — stop harvesting.