All About Growing Hydroponic Lettuce
Hydroponics or “working water” is a way of growing plants without soil. The grower provides through water instead all of the nutrients they would normally get from the soil. Hydroponics can easily be used by the home gardener as well as used on a mass production scale. A good place to start is hydroponic lettuce growing if you are new to hydroponics. Novice farmers will find that plants are forgiving and easy to work with.
You will need to prepare for starting your hydroponics garden two weeks in advance of actually planting the lettuce. Gather your equipment first. Get a 5-gallon container and lid to use. Using a dark plastic container works the best as it helps prevent algae from growing. If you can only find a clear plastic container, cover it with a dark plastic film or aluminum foil. You will also need a growing medium. Oasis root cubes work well for hydroponic lettuce. Pre-formed grwoth mediums such as root cubes are easy to handle. They should have a neutral pH and be designed for propagation. Of course, you will also need your lettuce seedlings. Two weeks in advance of the planting, insert the seedlings in the growth cubes, and keep them in a dish of water.
While your seedlings are in water, you can prepare the lid of your container for planting. Take plastic planting cones, and trace their outlines on the lids. You can get on a 5-gallon lid four to six evenly spaced, but be careful not to get them too close to the edge of the lid. You can insert the cones into the holes once you cut the circles you have traced with the plastic planting cones.
Now you can create your water nutrient solution. The nutrients plants would normally get through the soil must be supplied via water, in hydroponic growing this is most crucial. The base for your solution is easy to find because there are many pre-mixed hydroponics solutions on the market. For a 5-gallon drum, take 2 teaspoons of the pre-mixed hydroponic fertilizer (8-15-36 works well), 2 teaspoons of calcium nitrate, and 1 teaspoon of Epsom salt (magnesium sulfate). Dissolve each of these ingredients, one at a time, in a cup of water, and then add the water to the drum. Once you have added your nutrients, fill the drum to near the top with water.
After your seedlings have been sitting in water for two weeks, they are ready to add to the planters. First, place your lid over the drum and secure it in place with duct tape. Then next thing is toplace the seedlings inside the root cubes and then into the plastic planting cones that you previously prepared and placed in your drum lid. Equal amounts of direct and indirect sunlight works best as hydroponic lettuce needs plenty of sunlight.
You will need to keep an eye on the plants for any insects or worms. Always remove insects by hand if you see any. Though pesticides are used in hydroponic gardeningm for small scale plant projects it is not recommended. Be sure the plants are taking water by keeping an eye on the water level in the drum and you also want to be sure it doesn’t get too low.
Within 4 to 5 weeks, you should have fully grown lettuce plants, ready to pick. To pick all you have to do is simply remove the leaves. There are some hydroponic growth mediums that are recyclable, however root cubes are not and should only be used one time.
