Researchers at Washington State University have taken advantage of a unique seed repository to develop varieties that growers can plant earlier in the season without concerns about viability.
"Lettuce is the number one vegetable consumed in the United States,” said Carol Miles, a vegetable horticulture specialist at the WSU Mount Vernon Northwestern Washington Research and Extension Center (NWREC). "Most of the past seed screening has been to find strains that resist high temperatures. If breeders can develop varieties that grow better at low temperatures, there will be great new opportunities for local food systems.”Along with graduate student Charlene Grahn, Miles established a climate-controlled growth chamber where they planted lettuce seeds and identified those that germinated at the coldest temperatures. The team has just harvested the first crop and is in the process of compiling the results, according to a Washington State University press release.
Commercial breeders will be able to choose the most attractive lettuce varieties and incorporate the cold-tolerant trait into breeds for commercial growers and gardeners.
