The Indoor Lettuce Patch
I’ve decided that for us, it just wasn’t really worth it to keep the lettuce patch growing, and I doubt I will do it again in the future.
First of all, it never got crunchy. I know that is often the case with different greens in a mesclun mix, but we’re crunchy lettuce people- we prefer romaine varieties above all other lettuce. It took a lot of attention- I had to water almost every day, and the amount of time it was on the lights… well, I’m sure the electric bill increase was much more than what buying a few heads of romaine would cost.
It was fun to grow something and eat it in the dead of winter, I’ll give you that. But I was recently turned on to sprouting, and I’m really enjoying the flavor and the crunch that fresh sprouts bring to the table.
I’m still figuring out this growing under lights thing too. The first few peppers that I potted up ended up too close to the lights (I think?) because some of the leaves got a bit crispy. So I’ve upped my watering and adjusted the shelves a touch. I think they’ll do okay, but I’m a little concerned as the tomatoes start to pop out a few of their leaves in the days ahead. If I was just growing for myself, that would be fine, but growing for others adds a little layer of pressure to get the sproutlings safely transitioned into healty plant.
I am assuming the bili light is much warmer than a standard fluorescent bulb too. Starting seeds for everyone else last year made me go way overboard, I did much better this year.
That is good to know about the lettuce. For the most part I enjoy the crunchy greens better too, but it seems like the non-crunchy are easier to grow and seem to have better flavor.
I’ve stopped with the bili light, because it was so warm, and I had a combo of seedlings and seeds underneath it. I was concerned about cooking the seedlings, so now the whole tray is just underneath flourescent. I’m playing around with distance now, I’m just not comfortable yet with the light thing.
Oh, and Jericho is the best romaine I’ve found yet. It is easy to grow, crunchy, and reliable. It’s also slow-bolting, which is a huge plus. It’s available from many companies.