growing lettuce indoors

[wsmoak]

In addition to starting seeds for the spring garden, I'm also trying to grow lettuce indoors.

Here's what I have so far:

110202_4483 by wsmoak, on Flickr

Obviously I didn't get the seeds spread very evenly! This is just a flat with a couple of inches of potting mix.

Now what? Do I really have to kill a bunch of them to thin them out, or should I be transplanting them into something else?

I'd rather find something I can start (fewer) seeds in and grow them to maturity instead of repotting. Suggestions?

Thanks,
Wendy

 

[Collector]

I think I would just let it grow. A few more weeks and you will be having salads.

 

[hangin'witthepeeps]

wsmoak I see you're in GA too. So look at what happened to me. I bought a bunch of Spinach seeds in the late spring. Not knowing anything about spinach I though the seeds were duds as they did not come up. After some research I see it was too hot. Then in fall I planted more seeds, nothing came up. So winter set in and we've had a snow/ice storm or two. Lots of night-time freezes and guess what, the bed I planted spinach in the fall has spinach in it. With the snow and freezing temps, I have spinach growing. So its looks like winter is the proper temps in GA for spinach seed germination. Lettuce is similar so I'm planting lettuce seeds outside this weekend to see what happens. Bet in 30 days or so I'll have nice salad greens, lol.

Melissa

edited for spelling

 

[wsmoak]

I didn't have any luck with lettuce seeds outside, I can't do the "keep evenly moist" thing -- I either let them dry out, or there's a downpour and they all wash away. There's a bed out there with two or three sprigs of lettuce, but mostly the weeds are crowding them out. Thus, the indoor experiment!

So it's okay to let them be that crowded? I was reading that I need to thin them when they start touching and leave several inches between them. But I'm not planning to grow them into full heads, I just want to pick off the bottom leaves as they mature.

(I also have spinach and collards still growing outside, I suspect when it warms up a little they will take off for an early fall harvest.)

-Wendy

 

[hangin'witthepeeps]

I had a "porch" bed of lettuce. They were clumped together like that. I left some and pulled some (ate them in a salad). The ones that were spaced correctly kind of stopped growing for about a week or two then took off and produced normally.The clumped ones never got big enough to harvest leaves except for sprigs in a salad when I pulled the whole thing out.

If you leave them clumped and they don't grow to be big lettuce plants the few leaves you do have will turn tough and bitter. Just my experience.

Thanks, Melissa

 

[lesa]

Don't feel bad- thinning them is just another word for harvesting them... Give them a couple days and add to a salad!

 

[Organics North]

Hi,
I grow lettuce indoors under lights. I produce about 10 lbs a week for a local store. I have the capability for about 20 lbs a week. (Yet to reach that level yet.)

Anyway.
I use either modified permanest trays or home made flood and drain tables.

I plant in my own soil mix that has crazy good drainage and is very rich. (I layer the containers and use a full host of beneficial microbes.

I start seeds in deep 200 cell propagation trays. I use a 50/50 mix of vermiculite and worm castings.

I allow the seedings 1 to 2 weeks before transplant into TO Plastic SVD 450 pots. these are deep 4 inch square pots. (IMO lettuce likes a deep container)

I mist from the top and bottom water at transplant. After that I only bottom water via flooding the table and draining. (No I am not hydroponic, I grow in my soil matrix, which has compost, bark chips and at least a dozen other components. I also recycle the soil and use it again. It has a very high carbon and humus level.)

Harvest is 4 weeks from transplant. (3-4 oz heads)

For under lights I find Tom Thumb butterhead does OK. For me the Dutch breed Multy performs the best.

Some outdoor lettuce types do not perform the best indoors, IMO it is best to seek varieties designed for greenhouse use.

How is the crop pictured doing????

ON

 

[jackb]

I have grown lettuce and other greens indoors hydoponically for several years and can not recall the last time we purchased greens at the market. We love to try ancient heirloom varieties. This one is very rare:

Spotted Aleppo (pre1731) An ancient variety that had been grown in Aleppo, Syria for a long time prior to being introduced into Europe in the early 1700s. It was also grown in colonial America and was offered by Bernard McMahon in 1804 and many other North American seed companies until the 1870s. Spotted Aleppo is a beautiful loose headed Romaine type of lettuce with many bronze speckles. Romaine type. RARE.

 

[wsmoak]

I posted this on the other thread about the light setup, but here's the same flat a few weeks later:


110221_4546 by wsmoak, on Flickr

The leaves are pretty soft, but it's good for baby greens tossed with vinaigrette. I'll try different varieties to find one with more crunch, as well as try to get the temperature down. I'm starting peppers and tomatoes right now and they seem to like it warmer.

ON -- at what temperature do you grow yours?

jackb, that's beautiful! I found a couple of places that sell it, and put it on my list

-Wendy

 

[Organics North]

wsmoak, about 60 F at night and 75 F in the day.

jackb,,,

Yum, I want to try some of the spotted varieties, as I have yet to find a solid red is as vigorous as the greens varieties.

ON