Grow lettuce without a garden.

Lettuces used to be cheap. I was shocked to see them at 89p each, today.  Those salad bags that quickly slimy, are around £1 or over. We never buy them and yet enjoy salad leaves all year round. I do grow some in the garden, but also grow them in side on a cool window sill. When I lived in a flat, I would grow lettuce without a garden, and I still do. It saves me going outside on a rainy day.

I grow them in recycled containers like Christmas sweet tubs, or catering mushroom trays. What ever  you grow them in needs to be 10 to 15cm deep. Holes are drilled in the bottom to allow excess moisture to drain.. Before I had a drill, I used to heat a knife on my gas ring and poke holes through the plastic.

I don’t usually spend much on lettuce seeds. This year they cost 20p from Lidl as they were selling vegetable seed at 5 packets for £1. Special seeds are not needed if you want to harvest it by taking leaves and them growing again, as I do ((cut and come).  We are just careful to make sure that we only take a couple of leaves from each separate plant.

I planted my seeds a week ago and the seedling have already germinated, and have a few leaves on them. This meant that I could transplant them today.

I just use regular multi purpose  compost. At this time of year, I like to warm it up before I plant anything. This is done by placing some compost in a recycled icecream tub, and placing it near a radiator. On a sunny day I leave it in my conservarory for the sun to warm it up.  Compost is put into a container like a grape punnet, and the small lettuce seeds are sprinkled on top. I then sprinkled a little compost on top. We water new seedlings with warm water as cold water can be a bit of a shock. A light watering is needed after the seeds are sown.

I put some cling film on top until the seeds start sprouting.  The punnet is placed on a sunny window sill, using a recycled mushroom tray as a drip tray. If my house is cold, I place it on a heat mat. In the old days I used a hot water bottle overnight. Growing your own food doesn’t need to cost much.

Today I transplanted some of the seedling in to the sweet boxes. I just poked a little hole and pushed them into the compost, and then gently watered them. The box can be placed on to an old plate or the tub lid. They will look a bit limp for a few days when first transplanted, but soon perk up up. In this photo you can see my original seedlings behind.

I don’t put the lettuce seedlings too close together as they need room to grow.

After about a month you will be able to start picking some leaves for your salads. Leaves are usually over 8 cm by this time.

The soil needs to be kept consistently damp, but not soggy. Lettuce likes the light at this time of year. As it gets hotter in summer, my inside lettuce are moved to the North side of the house, and in shade outside. If they are too warm they go bitter.  Often these tubs last me over 2 months using 2 at the same time. I tend to sow lettuce seeds every 4 to 6 weeks so that I have a constant supply.  If they get too hot they will bolt and finish. When they do this I save the seeds to grow another crop. One or two  packet of seeds are all I need for the year.

These same lettuce seeds can be planted outside and given more space. Without picking, they will form a full lettuce in about 10 to 12 weeks. Are you growing your own salad leaves? I also grow spinach, endive, rocket, and chicory to add variety to our salads.