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Post by Kia on Oct 5, 2021 13:15:16 GMT -5
Hello Everyone,
Growing red and green romaine in Harvest and Bounty (day 9) You also see lettuce in Kratky jars. And yes I used socks to cover the jars! Ordered matte black spray paint for future Kratky grows. Long story but the lettuce in the Kratky jars where once in the Harvest and Bounty. Moved them and added more lettuce to the AG units.
Thing I learned: I don’t like “floppy” lettuce grown in Kratky jars or AGs. Takes up too much room. However, I love do the speckled variety and will continue to grow it. Any suggestions for lettuce to grow?
Does anyone stagger their lettuce grows to have a continuous supply? I will be starting back to work on a 3 day in office /2 day home schedule and would like like to take salads for lunch for the office. I need more lettuce! Maybe I should grow more lettuce in DWC systems in totes in addition to the AGs. I don’t plan to grow lettuce in Kratky jars. Takes up too much room.
Kia
Newbie
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Post by lynnee on Oct 5, 2021 18:56:55 GMT -5
The one time that I tried staggering lettuce, I placed the younger pods too close to the older ones. The older pods had bigger leaves (duh!), and blocked the light to the younger ones. The older ones also crowded the roots of the younger ones.
The younger ones produced tasty lettuce, but never really flourished. I took all of the lettuce out at once. I do find that the harvested lettuce keeps well in the refrigerator.
It may work to plant several pods, harvest them with the AG method of taking no more than a third of a plant at once, and then to harvest them all when they decide to bolt. You can then refrigerate what you have, and it may be enough to get you through until your new lettuce garden is producing. 🙂
If you want to try starting lettuce pods at different times in one AG, you probably should space out the pods. The younger pods shouldn't be in holes that adjoin the older pods.
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Post by campingcorgis on Oct 5, 2021 19:00:15 GMT -5
I've not staggered my grows. I just grow and harvest each day and let them grow some more.
Have you considered other greens for salads? Take a look around and see if there's something else that may be of interest. Bok Choi, Tatsoi, Swiss Chard, and so on.
And, welcome to AGA!!! Hope to hear more about your gardens!
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Sher
AGA Farmer
Posts: 7,025
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Post by Sher on Oct 5, 2021 22:40:05 GMT -5
Romaine is the only lettuce I have grown in AGs that is crisp, crunchy, sweet and not floppy. The other leaf lettuces are beautiful, but I do not enjoy their limp texture.
The fastest growing variety of romaine I have grown is Parris Island. Jericho is much slower.
I give my romaine extra space. They are way too crowded if you plant every hole. In fact, my best romaine was grown in a grow tower in a grow tent. The heads could grow full size and produced more than we cared to eat.
Í keep trying to remember to stagger my AG romaine, but I harvest it using the outer leaf method and you would be surprised at how much it produces.
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Post by Kia on Oct 7, 2021 10:41:08 GMT -5
Update: Day 11 It looks like my lettuce is growing slow and in the Harvest some of the inner leaves are brown and soft. Is that rot? Sher - I think I have too many plants in the units. I can try putting them in mason jars if I need to make room. Learning how to grow is a process. Kia P.S. I ordered 4 black bins with lids to try growing lettuce. I need to buy a hole maker attachment for my drill and then figure out how to use my drill.  |
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Sher
AGA Farmer
Posts: 7,025
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Post by Sher on Oct 7, 2021 15:34:32 GMT -5
Kia , those brown edges on new growth is tipburn. If the lights are not too close, it is usually caused because the plant is growing too fast to take up adequate calcium. Adding 5 ml calmag should cure it, or at least help it.
Sometimes when lettuce grows too close together, respiration can't evaporate and mildew will grow. So giving them a little more room to breathe is a good idea.
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Post by campingcorgis on Oct 7, 2021 15:43:12 GMT -5
Kia , those brown edges on new growth is tipburn. If the lights are not too close, it is usually caused because the plant is growing too fast to take up adequate calcium. Adding 5 ml calmag should cure it, or at least help it.
Sometimes when lettuce grows too close together, respiration can't evaporate and mildew will grow. So giving them a little more room to breathe is a good idea.
I don't think OP is speaking of the tips, but more the center of the plant? The tiny leaves in the center are brown and soft??? I'm thinking squishy? But maybe I just misunderstood? Check out the first picture & enlarge it... |
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Sher
AGA Farmer
Posts: 7,025
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Post by Sher on Oct 7, 2021 15:48:11 GMT -5
Yes. That is tipburn, I believe. It happens only on the newest growth.
But I could be mistaken..
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Post by campingcorgis on Oct 7, 2021 15:51:37 GMT -5
Yes. That is tipburn, I believe. It happens only on the newest growth.
But I could be mistaken..
Thanks, Sher! |
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Post by lynnee on Oct 7, 2021 15:52:56 GMT -5
Kia, The brown leaves in your photos look like a different variety of lettuce to me. Red leaf lettuce, perhaps? Are you using AG salad greens mix by any chance? Some of the lettuce in that usually has brown leaves, and it's perfectly healthy and good to eat. Of course, it could be that some leaves look brown (on my iPad) in the photos because the green leaves are reflecting the red diodes in the lamps. FWIW, my AG salad greens have always produced well even when I filled a Bounty with pods. I only cut back to using 2-3 pods at a time because I couldn't come close to using 9 pods' worth of lettuce! For 11 days, your lettuce looks pretty normal.
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Sher
AGA Farmer
Posts: 7,025
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Post by Sher on Oct 7, 2021 15:55:52 GMT -5
Tipburn usually makes the leaves crisp and brown, so if it is soft and mushy, maybe someone else has a better diagnosis.
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Sher
AGA Farmer
Posts: 7,025
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Post by Sher on Oct 7, 2021 15:57:31 GMT -5
And lynnee is right. Some of the soft leaved lettuce is mottled with red or brown. |
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Post by Kia on Oct 7, 2021 18:58:43 GMT -5
Thank you all.
Sher - I took one of the lettuces from the Harvest and moved it to the Bounty and raised the lights. Going forward I won’t overcrowd the unit.
Lynnee - the lettuce is romaine and Cimarron from Organo Republic. All the seeds germinated and the brand got good reviews on Amazon.
I go back to work in 2 weeks and just might have a little salad to take for lunch!
Kia
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Post by lynnee on Oct 7, 2021 23:10:12 GMT -5
Kia, please keep us posted. You will probably be surprised at how good your really fresh lettuce tastes. 😀
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Post by campingcorgis on Oct 8, 2021 10:01:40 GMT -5
Kia , please keep us posted. You will probably be surprised at how good your really fresh lettuce tastes. 😀 I'll second this!! Nothing like homegrown AG lettuce! Once you find what you like, and see how simple it is and how long it runs, you'll be set! |
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