Cos lettuces

doree36, Jan 11, 5:08pm
how do i get a "Heart" in them like the bought ones - beautiful dark green ones at present need to Hearten up. thanks in advance
tourer100, Jan 13, 2:50pm
Probably just a time thing, give them a bit longer
harrislucinda, Jan 13, 2:52pm
not sure if they heart up or just leaves
not like the ice burg
venna2, Jan 13, 5:07pm
I may be wrong but I think they are just leaves, which is good as you can pick them and they grow again. I have some cos lettuce plants growing just now so will know before too long.
doree36, Jan 13, 5:43pm
thanks folks I saw some "baby cos" 2 in a pack yesterday at the S.M had very firm hearts Maybe the outer leaves are removed before selling. made a nice salad with a whole one of mine last night . tasted good- i put them in the fridge for a while before i used them happy gardening everyone Noni R.
maclad, Jan 13, 6:02pm
Cos do not heart, just pick leaves as you need them. Do not let leaves get too big before picking as they can be bitter.
coralsnake, Jan 14, 2:22pm
Cos or Romaine as we call them in the US do heart. The hearts are picked and commercially sold as such. If you leave them too long the outer leaves will be bitter.
Romaine replaced iceberg on the USDA's school lunch program as it has some nutritional value whereas iceberg does not.
nauru, Jan 14, 7:53pm
The bigger leaves are nice stir fried. One or two of my cos lettuces are growing so big now, it's hard to keep on top of them.
doree36, Jan 15, 9:34am
thank you all - coralsnake = they are the ones i have been buying under the name of baby cos - next time i will buy the Romaine(hopefully they have them here . happy gardening Noni R.
eljayv, Jan 15, 10:02am
Baby cos, I think that is what we grow, called little gem
coralsnake, Jan 15, 4:30pm
When I first came back I went looking for Romaine seeds or packages of hearts and got some funny looks. I figured out after a web search they were called Cos here.
I now let one or two go to seed so I have a plentiful supply of plants.
They are also heat tolerant.
coralsnake, Jan 18, 2:24am
Was in a store today and next to the iceberg lettuces they had cello packaged lettuce with in big letters COS ROMAINE printed on the cello. So they are now also being romaine here too!
They were $4.99 a package and looked to have at least 3 hearts in. Unfortunately I already had some at home but will buy next week if they more available.
doree36, Jan 11, 10:56am
Thanks everyone = to coralsnake those are the ones i have bought as "baby Cos' - so they have been re-named good job. i have a couple of my home grown 'Cos' ones to use and then get them from the s/m . as they are so nice mine are pretty thick & course. bye for now By the way i turned 82 last week and still gardening both veges and flowers Noni Roberts