We had a hot early spring this year in Western Canada and my sorrel
and lettuce are already bolting, sending up a tall stem with the
flowers & seeds.
If I cut off the flower-stem, will the lower part of the plant start
producing more (edible) leaves again or is it true that once a plant
has bolted that the days of good-eatin' greens is over?

Luckily, I still have my Spinach & Chard coming up...but still
the first week of June seems way to early to give up on my
delicious lemon sorrel. :-(

Thomas PDP-11 Dzubin
Calgary, Saskatoon, or Vancouver CANADA

Thomas Dzubin wrote:
We had a hot early spring this year in Western Canada and my sorrel
and lettuce are already bolting, sending up a tall stem with the
flowers & seeds.
If I cut off the flower-stem, will the lower part of the plant start
producing more (edible) leaves again or is it true that once a plant
has bolted that the days of good-eatin' greens is over?

Luckily, I still have my Spinach & Chard coming up...but still
the first week of June seems way to early to give up on my
delicious lemon sorrel. :-(

Thomas PDP-11 Dzubin
Calgary, Saskatoon, or Vancouver CANADA



The one thing that I know of that prevents bolting is to shade the
plants. You just rig up something like a bit of landscape fabric (or
shade fabric from Lee Valley) so that the lettuce is shaded for most of
the day. Once they bolt, you can't save them. They may even be too
bitter to eat.

You can also wait until the weather warms to plant the lettuce (ie
replace the ones that have bolted now with new seed). The hot weather
after the cool May weather contributed to the bolting.

Ensure the new seed are watered evenly and shade them. I believe you can
also get varieties that resist bolting.

..

In article ,
cloud dreamer wrote:

Thomas Dzubin wrote:
We had a hot early spring this year in Western Canada and my sorrel
and lettuce are already bolting, sending up a tall stem with the
flowers & seeds.
If I cut off the flower-stem, will the lower part of the plant start
producing more (edible) leaves again or is it true that once a plant
has bolted that the days of good-eatin' greens is over?

Luckily, I still have my Spinach & Chard coming up...but still
the first week of June seems way to early to give up on my
delicious lemon sorrel. :-(

Thomas PDP-11 Dzubin
Calgary, Saskatoon, or Vancouver CANADA



The one thing that I know of that prevents bolting is to shade the
plants. You just rig up something like a bit of landscape fabric (or
shade fabric from Lee Valley) so that the lettuce is shaded for most of
the day. Once they bolt, you can't save them. They may even be too
bitter to eat.

You can also wait until the weather warms to plant the lettuce (ie
replace the ones that have bolted now with new seed). The hot weather
after the cool May weather contributed to the bolting.

Ensure the new seed are watered evenly and shade them. I believe you can
also get varieties that resist bolting.

..

I plant my lettuce and other salad greens in a bed that only
gets morning sun. That seems to help quite a bit.

Or use shadecloth, like cloud dreamer suggested : )

Jan

--
The way to a man's heart is between the fourth and the fifth rib.