Spots on lettuce?

**MomToTwoBoys** · 06-22-2009, 12:55 PM

This is my first year of gardening and I'm wondering what the spots on the lettuce are from. I've been watering them every day (twice a day sometimes) and they have plant food as a feeder (I put Miracle Grow moisture control soil with fertilizer in it) when I put them in the ground. This was about 6 weeks ago, though.

Are the spots from lack of fertilizer?

**Contrary Housewife** · 06-22-2009, 02:17 PM

What kind of spots are they? Brown? Black? White? Bumpy? How big? How many? Is it on anything else?

**MomToTwoBoys** · 06-22-2009, 07:34 PM

They're brown and yellow and white. It's only on the lettuce, it seems.

**Contrary Housewife** · 06-22-2009, 11:04 PM

Does it look like this?

http://www.inra.fr/hyp3/images/6033181.jpg

**Momto2Boyz** · 06-23-2009, 08:41 AM

We had some sort of bug problem with ours when we first put them in. I used a homemade insecticidal soap (dishsoap and water) and it kept the bugs off. Plus, most of the chemical insecticides, you can't put on for 2 weeks before harvesting! And since we harvest our lettuce so often, I use the homemade soap and it works great!

**MomToTwoBoys** · 06-23-2009, 10:14 AM

Yeah they look like that. It's really bugs? Gross!

I'll have to try the homemade insecticidal soap and see how well it works. The lettuce is far from harvesting, so I think we'll be ok.

**Contrary Housewife** · 06-23-2009, 10:59 AM

No, that picture is not from bugs. It's mosaic virus. It's a common problem and there is no fix for it. Somehow you either got bad (infected) seed or it was carried to your garden by insects. The good news is it is not harmful to humans, so you can go ahead and eat the lettuce. It will stunt the lettuce and eventually kill it though.