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TikTok Explains How To Harvest Lettuce Seed For Unlimited Crops
By KATE NICHOLSON
Lettuce can be difficult to maintain come summertime. A video by TikTok user @theretromom shows how you can harvest lettuce seeds after your lettuce begins to bolt.
A lettuce bolting is pretty distinctive. The plant will grow extraordinarily tall and thin from the center of the head and put out an ethereal spray of flowers.
When your lettuce shoots upward, cut the long stems and dry the flowers. The blooms will turn into miniature dandelion clocks full of seeds you can save for planting next season.
Experts suggest waiting until lettuce seeds dry on the plant to harvest them. Then, you can simply and gently pick the resulting seed heads off and stow them away for next winter.
If you can’t get the seeds to dry on their own, take a pair of sharp secateurs and snip the entire flower head cluster off at the base of the central stem while it's still green.
Rub the seed heads to release the individual seeds, and pick off the white fluff. Then, place the seeds into properly labeled containers, and keep them in a cool, dark, dry spot.