Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Growing lettuce indoors

Collapse

X
Collapse
 
  • Page of 4
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts
Previous 1 2 3 4 template Next
  • #1

    Growing lettuce indoors

    Hi folks - I hope someone can help me. We get through bags and bags of lettuce all year round. During the summer months we grow our own in the garden, but is there a cost effective way to grow lettuce indoors through the winter? I would consider hydroponics/grow lighting if there is a cost affective kit out there. Any recommendations?

    Any help would be appreciated.
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Hello and welcome to the vine

    I grow 'All the year round' and 'Arctic king' lettuce in my unheated greenhouse but there's no reason why you can't grow them on the window sill.
    Location....East Midlands.

    Comment

    • #3
      Thanks, I'll try those varieties and see how I get on.

      Comment

      • #4
        Originally posted by Bren In Pots View Post
        Hello and welcome to the vine

        I grow 'All the year round' and 'Arctic king' lettuce in my unheated greenhouse but there's no reason why you can't grow them on the window sill.
        Same as above

        I have loads still growing in the tunnel.
        Un-heated etc

        Comment

        • #5
          Ive also got artic king, some mizuna and pak choy all growing in the unheated greenhouse.

          Comment

          • #6
            I grow lettuce outside all year round. I have "Rusty" outside at the moment (self-seeded itself every year since 2005).

            Also something green and frilly, for the life of me I can't remember what it's called... I'll have to get back to you on that one.
            All gardeners know better than other gardeners." -- Chinese Proverb.

            Comment

            • #7
              I hadn't got any planted in the autumn. Today I found my winter gem seeds, so I decided to take a risk and see if I get anything worthwhile from them. I am giving them a little bit of heat to get started but not much as I've heard lettuce don't germinate at higher temperatures. Once they are through I will plant out in the greenhouse.
              I could not live without a garden, it is my place to unwind and recover, to marvel at the power of all growing things, even weeds!
              Now a little Shrinking Violet.

              http://potagerplot.blogspot.com/

              Comment

              • #8
                I grow lettuce all year round either in the tunnel or greenhouse. Try the seeds of italy range theres loads in there which will over winter afavorite of mine is misticanza look for the cultivars in blue. Try spinach with an autumn sowing but be warned it will bolt overnight if sown too early. Coriander mizuna and mustard all do well. avoid planting or sowing too close as mildew can set in quickly in the winter give as much as 18" between rows so you can water the soil without splashing the plant.Summer and autumn lettuce i grow outside.

                Comment

                • #9
                  One of the main challenges is the lack of light over winter - so it's not so much the temperature (especially under cover) but the duration of daylight. Very little grows much between mid-Dec and mid-Feb as far as I can tell - so if you want leaves you need to get the plants in early enough so they can root well and get a good size, but not too early so they get too mature! I haven't managed to get it right yet :-(

                  Charles Dowding has a book out on growing Winter Veg which seems quite good (no connection, just happy purchaser) including timings for sowing / planting

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    Like the others I grow lettuce all year round in the unheated greenhouse. Not large quantities but most days my lunch is a big sandwich and it's nice to just go out and pick a few leaves and a couple of spring onions to put in.

                    From autumn sowings I have AYR, red salad and a few lolla rossa, plus two tubs of spring onions which I can't live without. Oh, and the chives are now shooting up as well. Even in winters like last year they seem to survive.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      There are a number of lettuces and groups of salard that can be grown in a greenhouse from the end of summer - autumn planting to over winter crops.

                      chicory family such as radicchio, has a bitter after taste if not covered..forced..
                      Oriental salad leaves - mibuna, mizuna, pak choi,
                      lettuce Artic King, Valdor, winter gem.
                      spring onioins etc.

                      including planting beetroot at the end of summer in the greenhouse - polytunnel to get small crops just before winter frosts...

                      sow small boxes of mixed salard leaves at intervial timings so you have a crop over winter...
                      do a little every day...
                      keep it organic and taste and see the difference..

                      http://allotmentveggrower.blogspot.com/

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        If you wanted to grow indoors in the kitchen, Garden Essentials sell a 'grow-light garden' for £65. They reckon that the lights last for 10,000 hours, and then it costs £20 for replacement bulbs. I must admit to being seriously tempted by it - apart from growing clean salads year-round, it would also mean a very early start for chillis, peppers, tomatoes etc, and would work out a lot cheaper than heating my greenhouse from March which I've done in previous years. Would soon pay for itself I think....

                        Garland Grow Light Garden - Garden Essentials

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          I had a random lettuce that lasted all winter at the lottie 2 winters ago - so I let it set seed and collected and sowed that - and all the resulting lettuces are being left and if they make it - they will be allowed to set seed and I should have a variety that makes it through winter outside which will be fantastic for the greenhouse. So if you DO get any that last outside - keep saving the seed and you should have your own variety in a few years that's good for your area.

                          And if it lasts outdoors it should be great in unheated greenhouses.
                          Last edited by zazen999; 05-02-2012, 10:56 AM.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Sarah, thats an interesting piece of kit and at 48watts cheap to run to. I can feel the credit card twitching in my pocket.

                            Colin
                            Potty by name Potty by nature.

                            By appointment of VeggieChicken Member of the Nutters club.


                            We hang petty thieves and appoint great ones to public office.

                            Aesop 620BC-560BC

                            sigpic

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Here's a review http://www.growveg.com/growblogpost.aspx?id=175

                              Comment

                              Previous 1 2 3 4 template Next

                              Latest Topics

                              Collapse
                              View All

                              Recent Blog Posts

                              Collapse
                              View All
                              Working...
                              X