Mesclun mix is a blend of various lettuces such as iceberg lettuce, Batavia green, American red edge, Picking lettuce loose leaf and other cut and come again lettuces, supplemented with arugula. This mix can be used to make an ordinary salad a little spicier and more exciting. But it can also be used very well alone as a salad. To encourage continued growth, only cut off leaves and don't remove the whole plant at harvest. Non hardy annual.
Outdoor sowing: April - September
Sowing depth: ½ cm
Germination: 7-10 days
Germination temp.: 4½ - 18 °C
Plant distance: 2 - 3 cm
Distance between the rows: 15 cm
Plant position: sunny
Days till harvest: 21 - 28
Sow outdoors from April on, when the soil can be worked. Sow the seeds about 1 cm apart and cover them with a thiny layer of soil. Lettuce is a light germinator. You can mix in some dried sand with the seeds to make sowing easier. Keep the rows 15 cm apart to make weeding much easier. Thin the seedlings, when they're large enough to handle, to about 2 - 3 cm apart. You can harvest the mesclun mix after about 21 - 28 days. Cut the lettuce with a knife when needed, but let the roots and 1 - 2 cm of the leafs in the ground to grow on. Keep the soil moist. Snails and slugs can cause a problem.
