George Shirley wrote in message ...
Lettuce and greens are fairly frost resistant but might be damaged in a
heavy freeze. If you get a freeze warning you can always cover them so I
would move them to your outside containers before they start crowding
your starter packs.

Yes, seedlings harden in a week or so. I have had 72 spinach, 12 each
collard and red cabbage, and 6 cardoons out for ten days now. I had to
make little manure mounds because the heavily mulched bed was still
frozen. Ten days later, one cardoon has succumbed to night frost (it
went down to 28 for two nights running). The rest is fine, the spinach
are clearly growing and all seedlings should now withstand nights in
the low 20s.

I took this bet because I saw two saturdays ago that the 5-day
forecast had no freezing nights. Also I have plenty of overwintering
lettuce that I can transplant in the bed if I lose the bet. That can
withstand single digit nights by now.


George

Pat Meadows wrote:

I have some lettuce plants growing happily in 6-cell packs,
also some bok choy and choy sum (another Chinese green in
the cabbage family). I've been putting these outdoors
whenever the sun is shining, so they're pretty well hardened
off.

They'll be planted in containers outdoors - so I don't have
to wait 'until the soil can be worked' (until the garden can
be tilled) to plant them. Our garden is heavy clay, and
very soggy in spring - it really can't be tilled until
mid-to-late May. (This is the major reason I'm working on
getting raised beds.)

The information I've seen on lettuce says 'plant outside
four weeks before last frost' ... which strikes me as rather
un adventuresome. For bok choy and the choy sum, I've no
information as to when they go outside.

When to plant the lettuce and Chinese greens outdoors,
relative to the last frost date? When do you plant them
out?

I can cover them at night if need be.

Pat

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