vegetable growing techniques
lETTUCE
growing Lettuces in summer
Many gardeners see lettuce as a summer vegetable but in fact it
grows better in the cooler months of spring and autumn. In
summer it bolts very quickly and the leaves have a tendency to
take on a bitter flavour as soon as they mature. However there
are a few things you can do to improve the quality of your
summer lettuces.
Natural shading
In summer lettuces only need about five hours of direct sunlight each
day. Lettuces grown in semi shade during the summer months will remain
sweeter for longer and are slower to go to seed. Suggested shady sites
are the south side of your house or under shady trees. When growing
them in your main vegetable patch plant them in the shade of larger
vegetables such as corn or staked tomatoes. 
Artificial shading
Another shading option is to cover your lettuces with 50% shadecloth.
While it can be removed on cloudy days I usually leave the lettuce patch
in my vegetable garden permanently under shadecloth during the summer
months.
Grow heat tolerant lettuce varieties
Some lettuce varieties do better in hotter weather than others. Below are the pros and cons of some lettuces I have grown in summer.
Recommended to grow in summer
Little Gem: Retains its sweet flavour long after other lettuce
varieties have turned bitter.
Butterhead: Retains its sweet flavour for longer, though not as long as Little Gem.
Cos: More resistant to warm weather fungal diseases such as powdery mildew.
Not recommended to grow in summer
Butterhead: Retains its sweet flavour for longer, though not as long as Little Gem.
Cos: More resistant to warm weather fungal diseases such as powdery mildew.
Great Lakes: More prone to fungal diseases in warm weather. Red and
Green Oak Leaf: Turns bitter very quickly. Best grown in spring and
autumn unless grown as baby lettuces.
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