Lolla Rosa Lettuce

An Intro to Lolla Rosa

MY STATUS: Grown Successfully to Harvest   

Lolla Rosa is a variety of loose-leaf lettuce with a deep maroon coloration, a slight tendency to curl, and a mild flavor. It's frequently used in gourmet salads.

SOIL

The plant likes well-drained, fertile soil and regular fertilizer.

HOW MUCH SUN?

Lolla Rosa is sensitive to heat. On Pohnpei, give it early morning sun and then keep it in open shade for the rest of the day. If the weather is too hot, the seeds might not germinate at all. Only one of my plants survived to maturity.

HOW MUCH WATER?

Keep the soil moist, not wet. Watering unevenly will make the leaves bitter. Watering too much will rot the roots.

GROWING IN CONTAINERS

I've had some success growing this plant in small to medium containers. The plant usually does not grow taller than 6 or 7 inches.

PESTS

The usual lettuce pests will attack Lolla Rosa--slugs, caterpillers, aphids, cutworms, and cabbageworms, and whiteflies. The latter is one you need to worry about on Pohnpei.

PICK OFTEN

Cutting leaves when they are small and tender is the best tactic. Young leaves are more flavorful, and the constant picking will stimulate the plant's growth.

HARVESTING

Lolla Rosa should be ready to pick about 6 weeks after germination. Individual leaves can be picked as needed.

What I Did

DAY 1 - SOWING

I sowed my Ferry-Morse StartSmart seeds in a shallow, rectangular container. I put a thin layer of gravel on the bottom and filled the rest with a standard mix of potting soil. Seeds were sprinkled on the surface and covered with a thin layer of soil. The container was kept in full sun until germination, after which it was moved to a shady spot. I put it in the sun early in the morning.

DAY 7 - GERMINATION

The Lolla Rosa took longer to germinate than some of the other lettuce species I'm growing, but not as long as the arugula.

DAY 12

Seedlings have increased in size and some are starting to see the development of true leaves.

DAY 19

Hot, sunny weather destroyed almost all of my seedlings. Only one survived.

DAY 49

My remaining plant gets an hour of direct sun early in the morning; I keep it in open shade the rest of the time. Today, I transplanted the young plant to its own pot. It's starting to look pretty good with nice ruddy leaves.

DAY 64 

The plant has tolerated the transplantation well and is growing much quicker now. I think  it's time to start harvesting.

DAY 107 (9/3)

Today I decided my plants have reached the end of their growth period. The hot weather has pushed them to go to seed in the last day or two, and though I've picked off the flower buds, the stems have lengthened, the leaves have darkened and become tougher, and the flavor of the leaves is getting bitter. It's been a great run--two solid months of fresh almost daily gourmet salads. I never would have expected the plants to grow here, much less be so productive and healthy. I'm considering a sowing again, but not until this hot weather subsides.

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Arugula (Rocket)

An Intro to Arugula

MY STATUS: Grown Successfully to Harvest   

Arugula, also called rocket, is a leafy lettuce-like plant that is native to the Mediterranean and is eaten raw in salads or used as a topping on pizza. It has a sharp, peppery flavor.

SOIL

The plant grows well in relatively dry, loose soil.

HOW MUCH SUN?

Arugula likes cooler weather than Pohnpei has to offer. It can be grown here, but because it is sensitive to heat, give it direct sun only early in the morning before the temperature rises. Keep it in open shade for the rest of the day. If the plants get too hot, they'll go to the seed and the leaves will be bitter. Or even worse--they'll just wither and die. On very hot days, it helps to mist the leaves with cold water.

HOW MUCH WATER?

Water deeply and allow the soil to nearly dry out before watering again.

GROWING IN CONTAINERS

Arugula is very container-friendly. A medium-sized pot works fine. Or you can start it out in a smaller one and transplant as necessary. Make sure it has good drainage. Leafy greens never do well with water-logging.

PESTS

Arugula has few enemies. If you're growing the plants in pots on a porch, they should be safe from slugs and caterpillers.

PICK OFTEN

Cutting leaves when they are small and tender is the best tactic. Young leaves are more flavorful, and the constant picking will stimulate the plant's growth.

FERTILIZE

Like most lettuces, arugula does best when compost or fertilizer is added on a regular basis (once a week)--especially when growing in containers. I use a fish emulsion most of the time, but high nitrogen fertilizers, like chicken or steer manure, work will with plants grown for their leaves.

HARVESTING

Arugula should be ready to pick about 2 months after germination. Individual leaves can be picked as needed. Cut them off near the base.

What I Did

DAY 1 - SOWING

I sowed my Ferry-Morse StartSmart seeds in a shallow, rectangular container. I put a thin layer of gravel on the bottom and filled the rest with a standard mix of potting soil. Seeds were sprinkled on the surface and covered with a thin layer of soil. The container was kept in full sun until germination, after which it was moved to a shady spot. I put it in the sun early in the morning.

DAY 8 - GERMINATION

The arugula took about three times as long to germinate as some of the other greens I sowed, probably due to its aversion to heat.

DAY 12

The seedlings have increased in size and some are starting to see the development of true leaves.

DAY 19

After a period of hot, sunny weather, many of the seedlings shriveled or wilted. I pulled those out. Those that have survived are growing very, very slowly.

DAY 49

Development has been very slow, but several plants have survived. I give them about an hour of direct sun early in the morning and keep them in open shade the rest of the time. These plants are very prone to heat-wilt. They can't handle direct Pohnpeian sun any time after about 9 AM. I transplanted the best-looking plants into their own pot. Transplant in the early evening and keep the plants in shade for a few days before gradually acclimating them to some sun.

DAY 64

One of the things that's surprising about my plants at the moment is that the leaves have turned a reddish color! That makes me wonder if I didn't get these mixed up and mis-identified them (they were grown from a mesclun seed mix). I've never seen photos of red-hued arugula, but the shape of the leaves is spot-on. But, really, who knows? Pohnpei's heat and humidity might be doing something different. As long as the leaves taste good and the plants keep growing, I suppose I don't really care.

DAY 90 - STILL GOING (8/22)

The arugula has grown much lower than the other greens, but that may be a good thing. It's still producing leaves happily, where some of the faster growing lettuces are looking like they are in the first stages of bolting...which means they don't have long to live. This arugula his pretty mild, but I've enjoyed it. I also like that all the plants seem to have slightly different coloration. Some are red, some green, some mixed. Beautiful.

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Micro-Greens / Mesclun

An Intro to Mesclun

MY STATUS: Grown Successfully to Harvest   

Mesclun, also called micro-greens, simply refers to a seed mix including several types of loose-leaf salad greens.  My mix has Arugula (Rocket), Green Curled Endive, Red Russian Kale, Red Romaine lettuce, Parris Island Cos lettuce, Salad Bowl lettuce, and Lolla Rossa lettuce. As some of these are more sensitive to heat than others. In my first trial, the endive and salad bowl varieties failed to germinate.

SHADE

As most lettuces prefer cooler weather, they are a little more challenging to grow on Pohnpei than herbs. The best bet is to keep them in open shade, where they will get plenty of light but not be baked by the equatorial sun.

KEEP IT MOIST

These plants need to be moist all the time, though they should never be soggy. As containers dry out fast, keep a close eye on them, especially on hot days. It helps to compose a soil mix that drains quickly and put a layer of fine gravel at the bottom of the containers.

HARVESTING

Greens should be ready to harvest 40-70 days after germination depending on the species. Individual leaves can be picked as needed.

What I Did

DAY 1 - SOWING

I sowed my Ferry-Morse StartSmart seeds in a shallow, rectangular container. I put a thin layer of gravel on the bottom and filled the rest with a standard mix of potting soil. The container is being kept in full sun until germination, after which it will be moved to the shade.

DAY 3 - GERMINATION

The mesclun has been among the fastest germinating seeds. Some species came up in less than 48 hours. I think they beat the basil. Once germinated, the container was moved to open shade, as these plants prefer cooler weather.

DAY 12

Seedlings have increased in size and some are starting to see the development of true leaves. I can distinguish at least four types of greens so far.

DAY 19

I wish I could say the greens are thriving, but they are having trouble. We had a several-day stretch of hot, sunny weather last week that was probably rough for the little seedlings of plants that already prefer cooler weather than Pohnpei has to offer. I probably should have made a better effort to make sure they stayed completely out of the sun. Some of the seedlings have withered and been pulled out. As I anticipated, certain species seem to be doing better than others. The Red Russian Kale and Red Romaine can be identified. I can't tell if there is any rocket (arugula). There are some green-leafed plants in there, but I'm not sure which variety they are yet--too small. All the plants seem to be growing very, very slowly--probably another symptom of temperatures that are above the optimal limits.

DAY 49

Development has been very slow with these cool-weather plants, but they are looking better. I give them about an hour of direct sun early in the morning and keep them in open shade the rest of the time. Certain species are certainly more tolerant of the heat and humidity. The kale is thriving. The Red Romaine, Parris Island Cos, and Lolla Rosa are doing moderately well. The rocket is growing the slowest and is most prone to heat-wilt. I've started transplanting some of the larger individuals into their own pots to give them more room to develop. No endive or salad bowl seeds germinated.

DAY 76 - STILL NEW SEEDLINGS

Here's the funny thing. Though I transplanted out all the good-looking plants from my original container, new seedlings are still coming up from the first sowing now 2 1/2 months ago! Some of these seedlings are varieties of lettuce that hadn't shown up before in this mix. I've definitely got Salad Bowl now, though still no endive. Oh well. I suppose the kids wouldn't eat the endive anyway, and I'm totally blown away by the overall success of these seeds. Who knew one little packet of mesclun could be so prolific?!

DAY 78 - SALADS GALORE

All of the lettuce species that grew from the mesclun packet continue to be very productive. I have enough plants that we can have a nice mixed green salad every 3 days without any supplementary store-bought lettuce. It's absolutely fantastic and so unexpected to be eating gourmet salad on Pohnpei! I never would have thought.  The salad pictured at right had Russian Kale, Red Romaine, Parris Island Cos, Salad Bowl, Arugula, and Lolla Rossa lettuces with sweet basil, lemon basil, parsley, and fennel leaves. With a nice caesar dressing, it was delicious and full of complex flavors!

DAY 91 - MORE PLANTS (8/14)

The second wave of seedlings (all from the first planting) are now nice plants, which I'm harvesting little by little. I wish I could figure out what the mystery species in the batch is. It's not one of the plants listed on the seed packet.

See continuation of this record on the pages for each of the individual species of greens (Red Russian Kale, Red Romaine, Parris Island Cos, Arugula, Lolla Rossa)

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