Want to strike one more thing off of your grocery list? Start with lettuce. You don’t need to be an expert gardener to grow your own. You don’t even need a garden.
You can grow your very own lettuce out of a container. It will be crisp, wholesome, organic, and, best of all, free. It’s also one of the easier veggies to grow in a container which you can harvest in just six to eight weeks.
Here’s how:
Step 1) Pick a Pot
It’s best to use a container that is shallow and wide since lettuce’s roots aren’t deep and the plant only grows to be six to 12 inches.
Step 2) Make Sure You Have Adequate Drainage
Your container should have lots of drainage holes so that excess water can run out and your plant doesn’t drown. You can use an electric drill or a hammer and a nail to put holes in your container.
Step 3) Have Proper Soil
It’s best to fill your container with professional potting soil rather than garden soil since it will hold more moisture and keep your plants well fed.
Step 4) Choose Your Lettuce Type
You’ll want to choose a type of lettuce that’s easy to cut and will quickly grow again. The six “cut-and-come-again” types of lettuce are iceberg, mizuna, arugula, red mustard, red Russian kale, pak choi.
Step 5) Plant Away
There are three ways to plant lettuce: sowing seeds, planting seedlings, and potting a stem from kitchen scraps after you take all the leaves off of it.
Step 6) Space Properly
Your lettuce will grow best if you plant it 4 to 6 inches apart.
Step 7) Give It Sunshine Minus the Heat
Lettuce needs sunlight to grow but make sure you place your container in the shade on hot days. This will prevent it from drying out.
Step 8) Let It Drink A Lot
Your soil should be kept slightly moist at all times to prevent your plant from drying out.
Step 9) Feed Your Plant
Since lettuce grows so rapidly, you’ll only need to fertilize it once or twice. Wait a couple of weeks after you’ve planted your seedlings before you fertilize.
Step 10) Bolt
Sometimes lettuce will grow what looks like spikes that try to go to seed when the temperatures grow too high. This is referred to as bolting and is irreversible. To prevent your lettuce from bolting, be sure to keep them well watered and in the shade during hot days.
Step 11) Beware of Pests
Treat your plant for pests immediately with horticultural soap if you spot insects like aphids.
Step 12) Harvest and Eat
Carefully cut the outside of the leaves of your lettuce leaf when the plant is 4 to 6 inches tall. They should be young and tender when you cut them. If you wait too long they will bolt and become bitter.
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