Grow Greens Indoors Under Lights

[ducks4you]

I'm actually planning on growing a 'chicken garden' in big pots so I can drag them into the run. We have a zillion hawks and eagles in the area that always seem to carry one off when I let them have a 'day off' in the backyard. I think getting a garden in their run will provide them enrichment without the risk of sudden death.

I love the idea of using my old seed for it! No stress on waiting to see if it will grow, but if it does, good chicken food! You're brilliant.

I wrote a suggestion on your thread,

 

[Phaedra]

We have lovely weather today! The two varieties of lettuce I sowed on January 27th have stable growth.

 

[Branching Out]

Pam Dawling has a helpful guide to creating your own Baby Salad Mixes using whatever seed you have hanging around; it is something I hope to try once the weather warns a bit. Pam grows SO much lettuce and has developed very useful strategies for producing greens efficiently. In particular she recommends growing baby brassica greens in one plot and lettuce greens in another plot-- because if they are grown all together, the brassicas will take off running and overwhelm the little lettuce seedlings. When she harvests them she combines them for salad mixes, cutting the mustard greens in to thin ribbons to balance their strong flavour with the milder taste of the lettuce greens. Her suggestions are always detailed and specific. This post is one of my favourites: https://www.sustainablemarketfarming.com/tag/salad-mix-harvesting/

 

[Phaedra]

Agree that brassicas and lettuces should be separated. Another reason is brassicas have more pest issues than lettuce, and I will always cover them with nets from April to September.

 

[digitS']

This is what SSE says about Grandma Hadley's, in case anyone is interested:
This Hadley family favorite was commonly used in a wilted lettuce salad with hot bacon dressing

No, my experience with a Grandma's lettuce is limited .

The Butterhead that I'm most familiar with is Buttercrunch. It is just very consistent ... growth & quality. Speckles and Nancy have also done well.

Another lettuce that does well here is Nevada Batavian. It's not quite as tender but the name itself indicates how it fits well with this area, climate-wise. No Fall lettuce, it just can't grow enough to be usable between too hot & dry and too cold.

We stayed a month with my first wife's grandmother and I had wilted lettuce for the first time. I thought that it was really good but, I gotta say that I try to avoid having too much interest in bacon. The current DW is much too oriented that way .

Steve

 

[meadow]

So... fine vermiculite appears to act rather like a dessicant. If you use it for itty bitty lettuce starts, be sure to keep an eye on it cuz it may dry out faster than you'd expect.

Charles Dowding mentioned in his video that the goal is for drainage/air in the soil and that even small gravel would work. His mother used to use styrafoam balls. Since I don't have coarser vermiculite, I think for the next batch I'll break up some pumice stone I've had sitting around for a while.

 

[Phaedra]

So... fine vermiculite appears to act rather like a dessicant. If you use it for itty bitty lettuce starts, be sure to keep an eye on it cuz it may dry out faster than you'd expect.

Charles Dowding mentioned in his video that the goal is for drainage/air in the soil and that even small gravel would work. His mother used to use styrafoam balls. Since I don't have coarser vermiculite, I think for the next batch I'll break up some pumice stone I've had sitting around for a while.

Hi meadow, I tried a bit different way this year. I was a bit lazy to go to our garage to get some vermiculite when I sowed the first two lettuces at the end of January. I pre-soaked the potting soil (wet, but you can't squeeze water) and sowed the seeds. Then, I used my milk bottle dome to maintain the moisture instead of adding vermiculite. No additional water was offered until they germinated.

After they germinated, I then added a bit of perlite (still lazy to go to the garage...), but much little than CD's recipe, maybe just 5-10%. I think, as long as the seed is fresh and the soil is more on the dry side, germination and growing should be easier. Two days ago, I sowed another romaine lettuce called 'Valmaine'. I saw already two tiny sprouts today.

 

[Phaedra]

Another information about vermiculite from Orin Martin when I watched his videos talking about pruning fruit trees - he mentioned that he would always mix a little water with vermiculite before adding it to the potting soil.

 

[ducks4you]

When you use a heat mat for your seedlings it helps keep them from being waterlogged. You must check them almost daily to keep them watered.
When they sit in the cold often they sit with their roots in the water. Just fyi.

 

[meadow]

Thank you so much for the tips, @Phaedra!

You're little milk planters are so nice. The perfect size for many things too!