Reason #2 to Cover the Baby Lettuce

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Since freezing temperatures started in the Fall and throughout Winter and on into early Spring, we’ve had the lettuce starts covered with sheets.

Sheet Covering Lettuce Plants in the Garden
Sheet Covering Lettuce Plants in the Garden

It doesn’t sound like much protection from Old Man Winter, but simply placing a piece of cloth over them will protect baby lettuce plants from the frost and snow.

I was reminded of another reason to cover the lettuce and that is critters like to eat the young tender plants.

One morning this week I spied from my kitchen window a rabbit about 10 feet from the garden. She was munching on the weeds we have for a lawn. I saw then that the lettuce did indeed remain covered for the night and was kept safe from hungry bunnies. Sigh of relief!

Even though we haven’t had freezing temperatures at night for a week or longer, the lettuces remain covered with sheets. During the day the sheets may or may not be removed and the plants will do just fine. Today is going to be real sunny so the covers will come off.

Having the lettuce uncovered during the day is a lot safer than having it uncovered at night because wild rabbits are nocturnal. Even so, they’ll be out in the daylight hours, too. Last year I saw a Momma Bunny making her nest during the day, so uncovering your lettuce during the daytime isn’t foolproof.

Keep watching your garden for signs of animal activity and get out those sheets. If you’re near a garden center, pick up some floating row covers to protect more of your garden plants.

Transplant Baby Lettuce with Plenty to Share

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A really cool thing about all this fresh baby lettuce is that there is plenty to share.

Baby Lettuce Plants Ready to Transplant
Baby Lettuce Plants Ready to Transplant

Last year I scooped up a shovel of these small plants and put them in a plastic bag to share with a friend. She happily reported back saying that she took the time to transplant each baby plant to its own spot in her garden and then let them grow out into beautiful heads of lettuce. She had so many heads and different kinds, too.

Transplanting lettuce seedlings or baby lettuce is easy. You just have to take your time with it.

When the soil is nice and fluffy it will be easier to separate and handle the small plants without damaging the new leaves and roots. If yours has a lot of clay, patience is the key to success here. Make a mental note to amend the soil with compost or peat moss.

Wait until the area in the vicinity of the garden has thawed before handling the baby lettuce. In Central Pennsylvania that might be a few weeks before the last frost date for spring.

  1. Pick out a few select plants and dig a hole for each one to grow in.
  2. Space 10 or 12 inches so they have plenty of room to develop.
  3. Water lightly.
  4. Cover the whole area where you’ve transplanted the lettuce with an old sheet or length of material.
  5. Check the nightly temperatures and keep the transplants covered if close to freezing.

Remember, if there is ANY chance you won’t be able to re-cover the baby lettuce plants at the end of the day, don’t uncover them. They can still get some sunlight and definitely some warmth by being under a sheet, even if the nights are freezing.

The main thing is to continue to protect the transplants until ALL danger of frost has passed. We’re looking at middle to late May when we’ll be able to forget about covering the lettuce for a few months.

We’ll have to get closer to that time period before we can judge the exact dates for this year, so until then keep covering the lettuce transplants.