Question: My lettuce isn’t sweet, but very bitter. What causes that?

Answer: Hot, dry weather will cause lettuce to be bitter. If you plant the seeds too late in the spring, the plants will mature too late. If you cut several harvests of lettuce, then leave the plants in the garden too long, they’ll get tough and strong-flavored. Fall lettuce often has a sweeter flavor, since the leaves are growing during more favorable temperatures.