Lettuce Flammes - Vilmorin seeds - Lactuca sativa

The 'Flame' Cos Lettuce is a salad that is quite similar to the variety called "Marvel of Four Seasons", which produces large heads composed of beautiful deep red leaves. It is a variety that can withstand heat well and can therefore be harvested until autumn. Sow from February to July for harvesting from June to October.

If Lettuce is one of the most popular vegetables (with a consumption of 4.2 kilograms per year per person), it is appreciated for its freshness, crunchiness, as well as its taste and nutritional qualities. It can be consumed raw in salads, but also cooked, for example, to accompany peas.

As the quintessential leaf vegetable, Lettuce is an annual plant that belongs to the large family of Asteraceae. Its Latin name, Lactuca sativa, refers both to the white sap (lactuca) that flows when it is cut and to the fact that it is cultivated (sativa).

It is an essential vegetable in any respectable vegetable garden, and there are so many varieties that it can be grown almost all year round.

Growing Lettuce is easy as long as you follow the cultivation calendar for each variety. Its growth is rapid and it thrives in any soil, provided it is rich and remains moist.

Harvesting: It is simply done with a knife when it reaches maturity.

Storage: Lettuce can be stored for a few days in the refrigerator, but to enjoy its freshness to the maximum, we advise you to consume it just after harvesting.

Gardener's tip: A true nightmare for gardeners, slugs and snails love lettuce leaves. When the hunt is on, we are ready to do anything to repel or eliminate them: the ash cord (which will be quickly leached by rain), the homemade trap filled with beer (which hedgehogs get drunk on until they reach an alcoholic coma), the copper bands that are supposed to electrocute them (which tickle them a bit)...

Instead of wasting your time and, incidentally, your lettuces, we recommend using an anti-slug product composed of ferric phosphate known as Ferramol. Unlike slug repellents based on metaldehyde, which are dangerous for wildlife and polluting, Ferramol is natural, non-toxic, and very effective, as long as you remember to "treat" your plot a few days before sowing.