Q&A: How do I keep lettuce and spinach from bolting if we get another hot spell?

Lettuce and spinach love those crisp fall nights, but a surprise September or October heat wave can send them straight into bolting mode (shooting up a flower stalk instead of giving you tender leaves). Here’s how to keep them happy:

🌿 Pick the right varieties.
We have planted heat-tolerant lettuces in our gardens. Look for “salanova,” “winter density” and “red star.” You can even try bolt-resistant spinach varieties like ‘Malabar’ (technically not spinach, but works in the heat).

⛱ Give them some shade.
Tuck them on the east side of taller crops (tomatoes, peppers, trellised beans), or rig up a bit of shade cloth during the hottest part of the day. Even a scrap of row cover or an old sheet draped over hoops can lower the soil temp.

💧 Water deeply and consistently.
Dry soil + heat = stressed plants that think it’s time to reproduce. Keeping the soil evenly moist cools it down and helps leaves stay tender.

✂️ Harvest often.
Pick outer leaves regularly. Younger leaves keep the plant focused on growing instead of flowering, and you’ll stretch the harvest window.

👉 And don’t forget: even if a few heads do bolt, the flowers are pollinator magnets, and you can always save seed for next year.