The warmer weather brings with it many reasons to rejoice - sun, beach, longer days, and super fast growth in your Airgarden!

However the one downside, is that it can cause some of our favourite leafy greens (cos lettuce, rocket, spinach, basil, etc) to ‘bolt’. 

Bolting refers to the premature production of a flowering stem (or stems) on a plant before it can be harvested. Bolting is the plant's natural attempt to produce seeds so it can reproduce. It occurs when the weather heats up and often leads to the leaves of the plant becoming bitter and inedible.

How to delay bolting

Keep your plants well hydrated - don't worry, the Airgarden is fully automated, so your plants will be well watered.

Choose varieties of plants that resist bolting - try ‘Australian yellow leaf’, ‘buttercrunch’, ’flame’, ‘goldrush’ ,’lollo rossa’, ‘cos’ and ’royal oakleaf’ lettuce varieties. These are all heat tolerant and bolt resistant.

Pick the outer leaves off keeping them from maturing - this can extend the time the plant produces by as much as 6-8 weeks, giving you more of a chance to grow it longer and delay flavour changes.

Give them some shade - a simple piece of shade cloth or a beach umbrella can provide much needed relief from intense sun & temps that can cause many of the above plants to prematurely ‘bolt’.