Moving prickly lettuce

[trinityoaks]

I found some prickly lettuce in my yard (a few months ago I would NEVER have dreamed about being excited about this!), but I don't want it growing where it is. Where and how can I move it? What type of soil? Can I grow it in containers?

 

[MaggieJ]

As long as you make sure to get the whole root and keep it watered until it has settled in, moving prickly lettuce should present no problems. Most of these invasive weeds are incredibly resilient. It will grow just about anywhere... here it pops up in the most unlikely places, including plant containers.

I had to smile, Trinity... sure sign of a natural feed addict is happy excitement over finding a new weed!

 

[trinityoaks]

Thanks, Maggie! I know that often, stuff that grows wild doesn't like all of the "rich nutrients" in typical potting soil. Didn't want to kill the stuff with "kindness"!

I have to say, I'm still not fond of prickly lettuce, but if it will help my buns, I'll find a way to deal with it without getting my hands pricked.

 

[MaggieJ]

You may find that later cuttings of the plant are less prickly. It seems that when you harvest by cutting it to the ground, it not only regenerates quickly, but also puts out some leaves without that centre ridge of spines. We found some wonderful prickly lettuce on a construction site across the road last summer. It shot up four or five feet and we got several cuttings. The bunnies were happy campers! The later cuttings were a lot less prickly.