Hmm, thinking about celtuce

[rowan]

I know that I already have way too many projects on the go but lately I have decided to grow more lettuce and one new project is tempting me.

I love celtuce, I love chopping it up and eating bowls of it in front of the TV and I have always wondered why there is only one variety - except for an earlier maturing selection or two in China. I have been wondering if there might be room for some crossing with 'normal' lettuces to get tender leaves, other colours and frilliness. I think I might do some crossing and just see what some F2s and F3s might turn up to see if it can keep my attention.

[shoshannah]

Sounds like an interesting project.  I would be nice to have tasty and attractive leaves as well as a stem.

[rangardener]

Hi, Rowan, how about the eating quality of the celtuce leaves you grow?

Here in the US there seems no named variety other than just “celtuce”, but I am under the impression that in East Asia new varieties are still being introduced for home gardeners. I have no experience with the “standard” celtuce from our local seed suppliers, but have grown one from Taiwan last fall. It looks like the image in the following link:
www.poyuseed.com.tw/templates/cache/4849/images/4fa4f0ee01edc.jpg

The stem was tasty. The leaves were not as tender as any typical lettuce, but we were happy eating them as salad, as well as stir-fry - it tastes a bit like “arrow-leaf lettuce” (= “A-Tsoi”) but less bitter. Very beautiful plants, too. One bonus for my location (Pacific Northwest), it thrived in our extremely wet winter.

Most likely what I grew was a hybrid, so I saved some seeds and will plant them out just to see what the next generation will look like.

[rowan]

Thanks, I have not seen one with reddish leaves. I am not happy with the toughness and bitterness of the one I grow so I would like to breed one with much tastier leaves, maybe frilly and certainly with colourful leaves - hey, maybe one that produces a small head on top. There has to be a heap of interesting things to breed and select for in celtuce as it doesn't seem to have had a lot done with it.

[steev]

Perhaps binding to blanch, like cardoon, would reduce bitterness.

[rowan]

I'd rather not go to any trouble, I prefer my lettuce leaves to be sweet and juicy straight from the plant.