I have 5 lettuce plants of the May Queen or Meikoningin variety. This cultivar belongs to the group of butterhead lettuces. I received the seeds in a urban horticulture course from Tarpuna. I sowed them in mid-October. 3 or my lettuces are growing together in a about 8 inches square pot with soil mix for outdoor plants. Maybe they will lack room to fully develop. I grow the other 2 lettuces in smaller pots in coco coir. My goals are:
- following their growth
- allowing one of the lettuce plants to bolt in order to get seeds
Last week I saw some damage on their leaves which was caused by leafhoppers. Typical translucid stains which reveal that some of the leaf shields have been devoured without the leaf being perforated.
Since I don't want to use any eco-unfriendly insecticide I have resorted to a combined action:
- manual elimination of leafhoppers (captured and destroyed using tweezers or pressed with my fingers without damagint the lettuce leaves)
- evening sprinkling with NEEM oil (0,5%)
During next days I will observe of the NEEM oil has caused any type of damage to the leaves.
