[NorEastFla]

As with most flowering plants, the plant will enter the flowering stage naturally when conditions favor it as the next cycle of natural growth, *or* when stress is present that *forces* it into the flowering stage of growth.

The ending of the vegetative growth stage can be forced by heat stress, drought, very high mold causing humidity or plant damage. The plant "sees" these factors as a likely cause of it's death and responds by throwing itself into a *survival* mode of instant flowering to propagate it's species and make it's life worthwhile in plant terms.

If none of those factors are present, then the natural timing for each sub-species of plant type would determine the initiation of the flowering cycle.

Keeping those factors within tolerable levels for the plant and learning the plant types natural flowering time in days would be the key factors in eliminating unwanted bolting in lettuce it seems.