Also at what point does head lettuce head? I have two lettuces I planted from a store bought package of Ice burg lettuce and its looking like pretty good size leaf lettuce.
Misti, head lettuce starts out leafy, then the middle leaves will turn in to form a head. I'm not sure there's a specific timescale, since it will depend on growing conditions, but perhaps your plants just aren't mature yet.
When you say "store bought package" do you mean commercial seed, or that you replanted the stumps after you made your salad? I've done the latter with Romaine but never a heading type, so I'm not 100% sure it will form a new head... but I don't see why not
And my turn for a question. Of the seeds I started on 2/16, the only ones that haven't germinated at all are Rudbeckia, asparagus, sunroot and Passiflora. I started asparagus from seed last year, and think I remember it being pretty slow, but the rest are new to me. Do you guys find that they do better with special conditions, or are they just pokey?
I didn't wintersow anything - too late a start for my mild climate. They're all in containers near a south-facing window, loosely covered for a balance between air exchange and moisture retention. I still have seed from all of them, so if there's another way they prefer to grow, I can make another attempt. Wintersowing is even more out of the question now, though - we may well be past our last frost.
They have a lot more leaves than your plants, but still no distinct head, so it looks like you might have a while to wait. You can harvest some outer leaves without doing harm if you're getting anxious.
This picture isn't the greatest, but it's my windowsill collection a couple weeks ago.
There are two Romaine stumps in the low container near the middle. The darker green bits sticking up above the rest are new growth since I cut the leaves off for salad. I started them in water, but they've since been moved to containers with soil.
I don't know for sure, but that's my best guess... I typically grow leaf lettuces, because I'm impatient, and because we have two short seasons for lettuce in my area rather than one long one - summer is too hot and winter is too cold. I have managed to overwinter lettuce under cover, and have some Iceberg seeds from this year's swap, so I'll likely be experimenting with that next winter
Even though you're in a mild climate, plants slow down a lot over winter. Temperature is a factor, but there's also a lot less light. Your days to maturity may end up being much more than advertised, but hopefully growth will pick up once spring hits.
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