Lettuce is usually a green leafy vegetable that contain so many phytonutrients which is good for your body. Usually we add lettuce in salad menu. If you love lettuce you can grow it using hydroponic method at your home. Don’t worry even you are the beginner, growing hydroponic lettuce at home is so easy, just follow below tips.
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How to Grow Hydroponic lettuce at Home:
1. Choose the Right Hydroponic Lettuce Variety
Most of lettuce varieties can grow using hydroponic method. Even some of them can grow very well in hydroponics indoors with artificial lighting such as:
Most of lettuce varieties can grow using hydroponic method. Even some of them can grow very well in hydroponics indoors with artificial lighting such as:
- Green Ice, this variety provides a long picking season.
- Red Fire, this variety can grows well in warm and cool climates.
- Tango, this variety can only grows well in cooler conditions.
- Royal Oak Leaf, this variety can be tolerant of heat condition.
2. Hydroponic Lettuce Seedling
Prepare your growing medium to grow hydroponic lettuce at home. You may use hydroton, growstones, coconut fiber etc as growing medium.
- Prepare the rockwool for lettuce seedling in the starter plugs. Rockwool is the best medium for lettuce seedling and most other vegetables.
- Soak the rockwool medium in a solution with a pH of about 5.5 to reduce the rockwool medium into pH around 6.2.
- Drain off the excess solution in rockwool medium in the starter plug.
- Make hole in the rockwool using toothpick.
- Place the lettuce seed into hole, 1 seed 1 hole.
- Cover rockwool medium in the starter plugs with a plastic to keep the humidity.
- Place the tray near a window.
- Lettuce seed will germinate in a few days. Your lettuce plants are ready to be transplanted into hydroponic lettuce growing medium after the roots begin to poke out through the bottom of the plugs.
Prepare your growing medium to grow hydroponic lettuce at home. You may use hydroton, growstones, coconut fiber etc as growing medium.
4. Hydroponic Lettuce Nutrients
Nutrients in hydroponic method is very important for your plant growth. You can buy the hydroponic nutrient which is available at garden store near your home.
Nutrients in hydroponic method is very important for your plant growth. You can buy the hydroponic nutrient which is available at garden store near your home.
5. Hydroponic Lettuce Growing Conditions
Make sure you grow hydroponic lettuce in a cool area otherwise the crop become bolt and turn bitter. And don’t forget to monitor the pH and total salt concentration level of nutrient solution, the optimum level is pH of about 6 and total salt around 700 until 1000 ppm.
6. Hydroponic Lettuce Indoor Lighting
It is recommended that hydroponic lettuce plant get full light about 12 hours / day during the late fall and winter. If it is not possible to get sunlight indoors, you may use artificial indoor lighting such as metal halide.
It is recommended that hydroponic lettuce plant get full light about 12 hours / day during the late fall and winter. If it is not possible to get sunlight indoors, you may use artificial indoor lighting such as metal halide.
7. Hydroponic Lettuce Harvest & Storage
You may harvest the hydroponic lettuce leaf anytime, you can cut the outer leaves so your lettuce can still grows. But in case you need to harvest whole plant, you may harvest it with the root attached. This way will keep the plant stay fresh for 2-4 weeks in the cool and high humidity condition.
So there are my experience in growing hydroponic lettuce at home. Good luck..!
Read also: How to Grow Vegetables from Cuttings
photo credit: en.wikipedia.org