What is Celtuce - and is it worth growing?

Well grown celtuce at the time of harvest looks just like lettuce running up to seed - but not yet in flower. It is, in fact, a form of non-hearting lettuce grown for its stems, which are eaten raw - as you would eat celery.

Cultivating Celtuce

Seed can be sown from March onwards in the south, perhaps April, or even May, further north, either in a seedbed or under cover in containers. In dry weather water the drill before sowing.

Celtuce needs a cool soil for germination. If you are sowing for succession in hot summer conditions sow in the evening. Soak the drill with cold tap water immediately before sowing and the seed will pass the critical stage in its germination, when a temperature of less than 15°C is needed, before the soil warms up again next day. This same technique is useful to improve hot weather germination of other lettuces - especially butterhead cultivars whose seeds appear to be particularly sensitive to temperature.

The seedlings should be transplanted, like lettuce, when they are about 1 in (2 1/2 cm) high and set out 6 in (15 cm) apart. A site in partial shade will be quite satisfactory although the plants grow equally well in full sun.

Young plants need protection from slugs but, once established, have few problems. As with other green salad crops a moist soil with a high nitrogen content is needed. From midsummer onwards celtuce makes a good follow on crop after early peas or broad beans as it will benefit from their nitrogen fixing activities. Early crops may need a light dressing of nitrogenous fertiliser, especially after a wet winter when rain will have leached out much of the nitrogen from the topsoil.

Preparing and Eating Celtuce

Stems should be cut for the table when they are 10-12 in (25-30 cm) high. Remove the leaves (they can be used for lettuce soup, but are seldom of salad quality), split the stem from top to bottom - and it is ready to eat. Serve it in salads as you would serve celery. Stems cut too late will be stringy at the base, the fibrous layer, however, can easily be removed with a potato peeler.

Cut at the right moment celtuce is crisp and crunchy with a slightly bitter taste. Anyone who enjoys the bitterness of endive or chicory would enjoy celtuce.

Is Celtuce Worth Growing?

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