BACKYARD LETTUCE
From personal experience, this urban farmer germinates lettuce seeds using peat moss in an indoor setup. It takes just around a day or two, with some stragglers sprouting from the media by day three to five
Lettuce is now widely consumed by Filipinos either because they’ve grown accustomed to eating salads or because of the trend of eating Korean BBQ with leafy greens as wrap. They do cost a bit if you buy them at the grocery. Why not just grow your own?
There are several lettuce varieties, and most are grown in cool environmental conditions such as in Benguet. Some variants, however, also grow well in warm lowland temperatures. It boils down to choosing what will work best in your location. This entails some experimentation and trial and error.
The first task is to look for seeds. If you visit nearby groceries or hardware stores, you will likely find different varieties for sale displayed on tower racks. Gardening and urban farming stores also sell seeds. An example would be Quezon City Memorial Circle. Beyond physical stores, there are many online sellers via Lazada or Shopee. Some sell through a Facebook page.
If you’re looking for free seeds, your local government, or the Department of Agriculture’s office near your residence, likely gives these away at no cost. You may also consider searching for online groups where horticulture trade is allowed.
As for actually planting, lettuce start out as tiny seeds. It may be a bit difficult to isolate them on a per-seed basis for a ratio of one seed per slot on a seedling tray. A quick shortcut is to drop a few seeds per seedling slot. Once the seeds germinate, some prefer to pull out the extra growth and just leave the healthiest looking seedling untouched. They do this to make sure that the chosen one will not have to compete with others, for nutrients.
As far as the question of germination is concerned, lettuce seeds, given the right environmental conditions, are quick to germinate. Just use media that retains sufficient moisture, but not too much to the point that the seed risks drowning and rotting. From personal experience, this urban farmer germinates lettuce seeds using peat moss in an indoor setup. It takes just around a day or two, with some stragglers sprouting from the media by day three to five.
Once the seeds germinate, it is important to give them the right dosage of nutrients. For those into hydroponics, cut back the nutrient strength by half and return it back to the normal range when the seedlings unroll a few “true leaves.” Otherwise, they might get overdosed and die. As for light, we must always remember that lack of sunlight often produces a ruined batch with leggy characteristics. Give them light.
If you’re looking for free seeds, your local government, or the Department of Agriculture’s office near your residence, likely gives these away at no cost. You may also consider searching for online groups where horticulture trade is allowed.
The seedlings usually remain in the tray for around 10 days. Otherwise, if the period of their stay is longer, they become too leafy and difficult to pry loose from the slots because the leaves from the different seedlings begin to overlap. If you’re not careful enough, you may end up tearing the leaves of the other seedlings.
Another benefit of not letting the seedlings stay too long in the seedling tray is prevention of the buildup of moisture in the leaf canopy. This creates an environment that is conducive for pests to prosper, including the fungal kind. A simple course of action to pivot away from this potential problem is to make sure that the seedlings are not too crowded. This prevents humidity from increasing beyond what is ideal.
The seedlings can then be transplanted to a grow area where they can spend the next 30 to 45 days growing bigger until it’s harvest time. Soilless techniques, such as hydroponics and aquaponics, often grow greens faster than a traditional, soil-based approach.