Salad Greens – Growing Lettuce in Your Garden
Lettuce crops have been increasing in popularity these past few years and for good reason. You see, lettuce is among the types of crops whose freshly-picked taste cannot be matched by anything you can get from the grocers. Most varieties of lettuce haven't been grown commercially yet and in general, like all salad greens, they don't really travel or store well. Growing lettuce is great because they're practically easy to grow. Once you have lettuce in your backyard, you'll realize how cheaper it can be compared to paying hefty premiums for gourmet greens in the store.
When you're starting out with your lettuce crops, remember that it's a cool season vegetable and is best when you plant them during springtime or fall. However, lettuce does need light to germinate so remember to just lightly cover the seed with soil. After a couple of weeks, check in again to see if you have roots branching out to the sides of the plug. If there have been roots growing, you'll know that they're hardy enough to start them in the ground – just be sure you don't allow your seedlings to get too big before you transfer them.
Care and Feeding when Growing Lettuce
Assuming that you already have fertile soil, you don't need to worry much on feeding lettuce plants. Unless you'd like to just cut a part of the lettuce and come again to harvest them throughout the summer, you wouldn't need to feed them so much. You'd be happy to know that this is among the crops which needs a bit of nitrogen because all you'd like to get from this plant is its leaves. When selecting your compost, remember that well-rotted manure or other types of compost is ideal but you can pick up other substitutes from your local nursery.
When it comes to watering lettuce, remember to do it regularly but not enough to keep the area damp otherwise you'd be inviting slugs to your garden. A lettuce crop is ideal for homeowners because it rapidly matures and you can plant them in succession if you'd opt for seasonal varieties. Surprisingly, you can grow lettuce in containers too!
When you're harvesting lettuce, remember that you might need to do direct seed or transplant after a week or 10 days the most during the long harvest. When you're direct seeding lettuce, you can have your seeds planted in wide rows or have them spaced about 8-12 inches apart. Remember too, that spacing is best if you'd like to mature the lettuce into heads.
If in case you're growing lettuce for their heads, be sure you'll harvest them before the heads even begin to elongate. Once the heads elongate, you're heads won't be as flavorful as you intend them to be. Finally, when you're planning to have your lettuce crops matured, it will take a lot more time to have the heads mature. The longer the time means that it will clearly be more difficult for you to grow your crops without bolting as compared to the loose-leaf varieties of lettuce.
Growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables becomes easy with the state-of-the-art Tower Garden! You get to save a lot of space with this awesome, vertically designed gardening experience.
When you're starting out with your lettuce crops, remember that it's a cool season vegetable and is best when you plant them during springtime or fall. However, lettuce does need light to germinate so remember to just lightly cover the seed with soil. After a couple of weeks, check in again to see if you have roots branching out to the sides of the plug. If there have been roots growing, you'll know that they're hardy enough to start them in the ground – just be sure you don't allow your seedlings to get too big before you transfer them.
Care and Feeding when Growing Lettuce
Assuming that you already have fertile soil, you don't need to worry much on feeding lettuce plants. Unless you'd like to just cut a part of the lettuce and come again to harvest them throughout the summer, you wouldn't need to feed them so much. You'd be happy to know that this is among the crops which needs a bit of nitrogen because all you'd like to get from this plant is its leaves. When selecting your compost, remember that well-rotted manure or other types of compost is ideal but you can pick up other substitutes from your local nursery.
When it comes to watering lettuce, remember to do it regularly but not enough to keep the area damp otherwise you'd be inviting slugs to your garden. A lettuce crop is ideal for homeowners because it rapidly matures and you can plant them in succession if you'd opt for seasonal varieties. Surprisingly, you can grow lettuce in containers too!
When you're harvesting lettuce, remember that you might need to do direct seed or transplant after a week or 10 days the most during the long harvest. When you're direct seeding lettuce, you can have your seeds planted in wide rows or have them spaced about 8-12 inches apart. Remember too, that spacing is best if you'd like to mature the lettuce into heads.
If in case you're growing lettuce for their heads, be sure you'll harvest them before the heads even begin to elongate. Once the heads elongate, you're heads won't be as flavorful as you intend them to be. Finally, when you're planning to have your lettuce crops matured, it will take a lot more time to have the heads mature. The longer the time means that it will clearly be more difficult for you to grow your crops without bolting as compared to the loose-leaf varieties of lettuce.
Growing flowers, fruits, and vegetables becomes easy with the state-of-the-art Tower Garden! You get to save a lot of space with this awesome, vertically designed gardening experience.
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