Lettuce, Wild (Wild Lettuce) (Lactuca virosa) seeds, organic

(39 customer reviews)

$3.95$18.00

Family:  Aster (Asteracea)

Hardy to Zones 5 to 9, readily grown as a spring-planted annual

(Lettuce Opium, Wild Lettuce, Bitter Lettuce)  Overwintering annual or biennial.  Native to Central and Southern Europe.  Young plants of giant wild lettuce are a good ingredient for heroic salads.  I eat the leaves freely in the winter to early spring.  This is the most cold hardy of all lettuces, in the right circumstances producing very reasonable salads midwinter, which is before the plant goes tough and bitter.  Lactuca virosa is a preferred wild species from Europe–highest latex content, nutrient dense, good winter salad, bright purple-black seeds, much less spiny than the weedy types (e.g Lactuca serriola), which we do not carry.  Traditional usage (TWM): Sedative, pain-relieving, antispasmodic, digestive bitter, euphoric used to treat insomnia, restlessness, bodily pain, painful menses, digestive woes.  Source of lactucarium, the white latex that contains alkaloids (Lactucin) and sesquiterpene lactones.  Sow in spring or fall, in pots outdoors or directly in beds outdoors.  Barely cover seed with soil and tamp securely, then keep cool and evenly moist until germination, which takes 10 to 20 days.  In very cold soil conditions (freezing and thawing), germination will take longer.  Seeds planted outdoors on 2_11_22, rampant germination on 3_18_2022, in concert with full moon, 37 day induction period. Meanwhile very warm soil temperatures will retard or disallow germination. Indoor growers will often be disappointed–the wild plant needs cool temperatures to germinate.  Transplant or thin to 6 inches apart.  Flowers yellow to 6 feet.

Packet contains ~20 seeds
1 g contains ~1,200 seeds

Certified Organically Grown

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5 out of 5 stars

39 reviews

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7 reviews with a 5-star rating

  1. Andrew Grossberg

    High Germination Rate

    Andrew Grossberg (verified owner)

    I planted these last year in zone 7a and I think they all sprouted. I had to thin some out. Despite a harsh winter they’re still going!

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  2. lauriannmikell

    lauriannmikell (verified owner)

    Excellent

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  3. Angela Karing

    ?% germination

    Angela Karing (verified owner)

    Hi Richo, I started my seeds mid Feb, moved them outside after germination (just 6 days later!) And have had them on the back deck since, they seem to small to transplant and I was wondering how big should they be? My last frost date is may 19th or so. Thank you very much, blessings to y’all and your garden, Angela

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  4. Stella

    Buy

    Stella (verified owner)

    Great business to buy from

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  5. One person found this helpful
    Jan

    Stratifying SEEMS Complicated...But its ONE AND DONE!!!

    Jan (verified owner)

    I put 2 packets of seeds in the fridge between damp…paper towels. For a few weeks supposedly …but it might have been the summer…because they got pushed to the back of the fridge.and forgot about. I Really wet the Paper towels and let them sit for a few hours because it looked like the baby roots were sticking. Planted them…GORGEOUS!!!

    The pix on the right was from inside my greenhouse…in which they seem to prefer…left was on the covered porch.

    I buy a ton from Strictlymedicinal and I trust them with all of my Seed Needs!!!

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  6. 2 out of 2 people found this helpful
    Catherine Boyington

    It really helps my arthritis pain

    Catherine Boyington

    I chew a leaf every time I work in the garden and it really helps my arthritis pain.

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  7. Sally

    Grows just fine here in North Texas

    Sally (verified owner)

    I planted this here last year and the ones i planted in the shade have stuck around and are really looking good in January. I didn’t know these would do so well here in the winter, when will they start making flowers? I use wild lettuce for mild pain relief. I usually make a tincture or just eat the dried plant. Sometimes add leaves to my salad. Thank you!

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