Lettuce is a nutritious
winter vegetable. It is grown all year round in countries with moderate
weather. Generally, it can be grown in two ways. They are - growing
lettuce indoors and growing lettuce outdoors. In this article, I will
show you how to grow lettuce indoors in containers and outdoors.
So, read the article carefully and learn more about how to grow lettuce
indoors in containers and outdoors. Before discussing growing lettuce,
let's know about lettuce.
Growing Lettuce Indoors and Outdoors
What is Lettuce?
The scientific name of
lettuce is Lactuca Sativa. It is a plant of the Daisy family. Lettuce leaves
are eaten as a curry and a salad. Its oil is made from its seeds. However,
lettuce oil is very popular as a balanced diet.
Origin of Lettuce
First, the ancient
Egyptians discovered lettuce from weeds. It was very popular with the Greeks
and Romans. Later, its cultivation became widespread in Europe and North
America. At present, the popularity of growing lettuce has increased worldwide.
Growing Lettuce Indoors
If you want to grow
lettuce indoors, you must first know how to grow lettuce in
containers. After learning the ins and outs of lettuce growing, if you
start growing lettuce, you will do well in lettuce growing. To grow lettuce
indoors and get a bumper yield of lettuce successfully, read the following
points consistently and follow the instructions accordingly. If you grow
lettuce indoors according to my instructions, you will surely be successful in growing
lettuce indoors.
Growing Lettuce in Containers Indoors
Choosing Lettuce Varieties
Many varieties of lettuce
are grown worldwide. Among the varieties of lettuce, top row, left - Iceberg,
top row, right - Batavia, second row, left - Romaine, second row, right -
Speckled Romaine, third row, left - Green Leaf, third row, right -Red Leaf,
bottom row, left - Red Leaf and bottom row, right - Butterhead are more
mentionable and popular varieties. If you wish, you can grow lettuce indoors by
choosing one of the above varieties.
Preparing Soil
Loamy soil is needed to
grow lettuce. It is also grown well in loose soil. Follow the
instructions below for preparing loamy soil to grow lettuce indoors.
1. Ordinary garden
soil……....40%
2. Cow dung…………….......
20%
3. Compost fertilizer….……
20%
4. White sand.……………….20%
If you want to apply
chemical fertilizer in the soil, add four teaspoons of TSP and 50 grams of
mustard oil-cake for each container. Lettuce will be grown well in this
soil if you can prepare soil in this way. Besides, click
here to learn how to make seed germination soil, sandy soil, clay soil, loamy
soil, and sandy loamy soil.
Container Setting and Filling the Containers with Soil
For growing lettuce
indoors, first of all, you have to choose the containers. Usually, you can grow
lettuce in any type of container, big or medium or small. However, to
grow lettuce indoors in containers, you must have good knowledge of container setting
and filling the containers with soil. If you have no knowledge about container
setting and filling the containers with soil, click the
above link to learn how to set containers and fill the containers with soil.
When to Plant Lettuce Seeds
Basically, lettuce is a
winter vegetable. Throughout the winter, you can grow lettuce indoors. In
fact, lettuce growing starts from September to October and can be grown in
stages till January.
How to Grow Lettuce from Seeds
Most of the roof gardeners
fail to germinate seeds for their roof gardens. They can't germinate seeds
properly. Actually, they have no good idea about seed germination. They rush to
the nursery and buy seedlings for their roof gardens. But if you wish, you can
germinate any type of seeds at home including lettuce. But if you don't have
any idea about seed germination and if you want to germinate lettuce seeds, click
here to learn how to germinate seeds for roof gardens.
How to Plant Lettuce
When lettuce seedlings are
one month old, you will plant the seedlings in the main containers. If you
bring lettuce seedlings from the nursery, bring one-month-old seedlings. Then
plant the seedlings. If your lettuce-growing container is small, plant two
seedlings in each container. If each container is 10 or 12 inches, plant
four seedlings in each container.
While planting seedlings,
press the soil lightly at the roots of the seedlings so that the soft roots of
the seedlings may not break under pressure. After planting the seedlings, keep
them in a shady place for 3-4 days and water the lettuce seedlings in the
morning and afternoon. After three or four days, keep the seedlings in
full sunlight.
Caring for Seedlings
After planting lettuce
seedlings, when the soil at the top of the containers is dry, water the
seedlings. When the lettuce seedlings are 15 days old, clear the weeds in the
containers and loosen the soil at the roots of the seedlings with a hoe. And,
notice if there is any excess water accumulated in the containers because
lettuce seedlings can die if water accumulates in the containers. So, do
not water the lettuce seedlings until the top of the containers is dry and
white.
Applying Fertilizer
After 15 days of growing
lettuce seedlings in the containers, give one glass of mustard oil-cake rotten
water or dried cow dung cake rotten water or vegetable residue rotten water in
each container. For this, mix ten glasses of normal water with one glass
of rotten water. Then give a glass of water at the roots of each seedling from
that water.
And, if you want to apply
chemical fertilizer to lettuce seedlings, apply 5/6 pieces of urea and 5/6
pieces of DAB at the roots of each seedling. When the lettuce seedlings are one
month old, apply one glass of rotten banana peel water at the roots of each
seedling or mix potash fertilizer with water and apply one glass of that water
at the roots of each seedling.
Read more:
Controlling Diseases and Insects
The main diseases of
lettuce are root rot and leaf burn. If these diseases are seen in lettuce
seedlings, the seedlings should be destroyed. However, the diseases can be
cured by purifying the seeds and soils.
And, the most harmful
insect for lettuce seedlings is the beettle.
If this insect attacks the lettuce seedlings, apply an approved pesticide in
consultation with your nearest agricultural officer. However, don't eat
lettuce one week after application of pesticides.
How to Harvest Lettuce
Lettuce leaves are
suitable for eating only when the lettuce plants are one month old. This
time you can uproot the whole lettuce plants at a time or cut the leaves little
by little and eat them.
Growing Lettuce Outdoors
To grow lettuce outdoors
you have to cultivate the land four or five times and at the time of
cultivating, apply 20 kg of cow dung, 800 gms of oil cake, 400 gms of urea, 100
gms of TSP and 100 gms of potash. Cow dung should be applied at the
beginning of cultivation and TSP and potash should be applied at the time of
last cultivation. When lettuce seedlings are ten days old, apply 200 gms of
urea and when the seedlings are 20 days old, apply the remaining 200 gms of
urea.
Besides, lettuce seeds can
be sown directly in the land. Again seedlings can be made from seed beds
and planted on the mainland. To make lettuce seedlings from seed beds and plant
lettuce on the mainland, the distance from line to line should be 12 inches and
the distance from seedling to seedling should be 8 inches.
Eating Lettuce Benefits
Lettuce leaves are very
nutritious and beneficial for health. It is rich in sodium, potassium,
beta-carotene, calories, and vitamins A, B-1, B-2, B-3 and C.
Lettuce leaves help digest
food, reduce body fat and weight, relieve bruising pain, increase blood flow,
reduce flatulence, keep kidneys healthy, keep heart well, keep eyes healthy,
remove dandruff and keep skin healthy.
In conclusion, lettuce is a
very popular vegetable. You can meet your nutritional needs by growing lettuce
indoors according to my instructions. So, to fulfill the lack of essential
nutrients in the body, you should try to grow lettuce indoors in containers. I
think how to grow lettuce indoors in
containers and outdoors is fully clear to you. Now start growing lettuce
indoors and outdoors and enjoying fresh fresh homegrown lettuce.
Are you ready to start
growing your own fresh and crisp lettuce today? Follow my easy guide and enjoy
fresh and crisp lettuce. If anything is unknown to you, share it in the
comments.
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