Green Ice Lettuce Seeds

I live in a hot climate which makes leafy greens a complicated affair, so last year I tried my hand at Kratky method, non-circulating hydroponic lettuce. I tried romaine and salad leaf lettuces, and neither of them were particularly amazing but the Kratky method worked great. I wanted a lettuce that was loose leaf so I could cut for regrowth, but I also wanted one that has a decent crispness. I saw that this variety was billed as crisp and it didn't disappoint. It's not as crisp as something like romaine, but it has just the right amount of crispness to make me feel as if I actually ate lettuce and not tissue paper. Plus it's not so crisp that it breaks when you try to fold it around lettuce wrapped meat or fold it around fillings. The seeds had a good germination rate, and as a whole they grew quite well. I kept the plants for about two months in my Kratky setup before one randomly withered away (may have just been weak or trimmed too aggressively) and one attempted to bolt. I consider that a very good run, especially considering how much lettuce I harvested from just six plants over the course of a couple months. The color was also a good deep green, which I love. I don't like a yellow looking salad, it looks unappealing. The initial batch of leaves weren't as frilly as those in the picture, but after the first trimming of the first, smoother outer leaves the regrown leaves were frillier and even crisper than the early leaves which were more tender.

I have grown Green Ice for years where summer comes on fast - everyone loves this variety because it is not papery like many leaf lettuces. I can go out and pick some crisp leaves as I need them. And because lettuce is a quick crop, I plant them 4 inches apart in every direction (no need for rows) -- I get a boat load of lettuce this way... It is tasty, fast and sweet and has a beautiful color. And people think I grew heads of lettuce.

Many leaf lettuces are like paper. This one is sweet and has a crispness to it. If picked regularly, it will produce for weeks and then provide seeds that can be planted next year. One plant produces hundreds of seeds.