let’s grow lettuce with hydroponics
Overview
Lettuce is fast becoming a favourite for hydroponic beginners and is one of the most common plants grown among hydroponic growers. The reason is that it can be grown in temperate and tropical climates. It is good for you and the stems and leaves can be eaten.
Lettuce can be easily grown with hydroponics, and we’ve listed what you need to get started below:
Things you will need
- Nutrient Solution
- Substrate
- Dish of Water
- Buckets
Ok, let’s get our hands dirty. Here below is the successful method you can start growing our own lettuce to have unbillable results.
How to Grow Lettuce
Step 01: Find high-quality lettuce seed. Better if you can extract your own seeds check the following video.
Step 02: Placing lettuce seed in a culture medium cocopeat pellets, rock wool starter plug or you can use stones also.
If you cannot find a net cups near you can create your own net cup using plastic cup by making some holes in the cup which allows roots to go out from the cup.
There are 2 methods you can start you can directly plant in net pots or you can start with separate peat tablet or rock wool and later transfer to a net pot. But if you are using the medium as stones better to start with net pots as when transferring roots can be damaged.
Important thing never try to start with soil and later transfer to the hydroponic net pot because when you transfer the plant there is highly possibility to damage the roots of the plant.
Step 03: Put the cubes in a dish of water for two weeks in a dark state. During this time, the seeds should germinate on small plants.
Step 04: Make sure you always have the buckets in a bowl of water. Keeping the cubes in a dark state is essential to slow the growth of algae.
Step 05: germination will take about 7-14 days. Once the outbreak appears, place the cubes in a mesh pot and transplant to a growing container or hydroponic systems like NFT systems.
Step 06: Choose the best containers for hydroponic gardening (dark-coloured plastics).
Step 07: Plants in a hydroponic system should regularly receive a nutrient solution. Will add a different post about how to make a hydroponic nutrient solution.
Step 08: Choose the right solution for successful hydroponic growth
Step 09: Wait 4-5 weeks to harvest the lettuce. Be sure to place your plants close to the sun, but not in full sun all day, and preferably in a place that receives only the morning sun. Direct sunlight throughout the day is not suitable for lettuce and green leafy vegetables, as excess heat will stress the plant. This will result in the start of a lightning strike (bloom) that will make the leaves turn sour and change the texture of your product.
Hope this article helps you to build your own lettuce. Read the following articles to know more about hydroponics.