Description
This beautiful lettuce is a highly versatile and resilient red-leaf variety prized for its distinctive appearance and robust nature. The colour is a striking deep green with rich red-to-bronze shading, adding visual appeal to any salad mix.
Flavour & Texture: The leaves are known for being sweet, juicy, and exceptionally crunchy, offering a refreshing texture that holds up well, even when cooked lightly. It has a high tolerance for warmer weather, which means the leaves are slow to turn bitter.
Culinary Uses:
Salad: Perfect as a stand-alone salad green or chopped into a colourful misticanza (mixed salad).
Cut-and-Come-Again: Ideal for repeated harvests, providing fresh leaves for months.
When to Plant: This variety is celebrated for its excellent resistance to bolting (going to seed) and heat tolerance. Plant it in Spring, Autumn, and Winter. In Malta’s mild climate, it can often be grown year-round by placing it in a spot that receives afternoon shade during the warmest months.
Location/Sun: Prefers full sun in cooler weather and partial sun (especially morning sun) during the hotter parts of the season.
Soil & Potting: Requires fertile, well-drained soil that is rich in organic matter. Grows very well in pots and containers.
Transplanting: Plant the seedling shallowly, ensuring the base of the stem (the ‘crown’) is above the soil line to prevent rotting.
Watering: Keep the soil consistently moist. Steady moisture is essential for quick growth and tender leaves. Let the soil dry slightly between watering, but avoid deep drought.
Feeding: Like all fast-growing leafy greens, an occasional feed with a nitrogen-rich fertiliser will promote lush, rapid growth.
Harvesting Method: You have two options:
Cut-and-Come-Again (Recommended): Snip the outer leaves when they are still young and tender. The plant will quickly regenerate new leaves from the centre.
Full Head: Harvest the entire head by cutting it at the base when it reaches the desired size (typically 30–60 days from transplant, depending on the season).
Why Buy This Seedling? This is the ultimate workhorse lettuce for the Maltese garden! Our Red Monk’s Beard seedlings provide a unique combination of beautiful red colour, intense crunch, and superior heat tolerance. Its ability to regrow after cutting guarantees a continuous supply of sweet, non-bitter leaves for your kitchen.
