Like many of you, I’ve got a little setup for starting vegetable seedlings each spring. I started dozens of tomatoes and peppers and a little less in the way of broccoli and cabbage earlier this year. And while I was testing out some older seed and trying new varieties in the garden this year, it became readily apparent that I did not need quite so many tomatoes or peppers.
And that’s good, because I really want to use two of the shelves for growing some hydroponic lettuce.
I’d never paid much attention to hydroponics. It seemed a little complicated, and I just knew my husband would not be interested in giving up a room or half the garage to growing plants. And even though I never researched the cost, I was pretty sure he wouldn’t be open to the expense, either.
But then I learned about people using Kratky hydroponics, a simple method to grow lettuce in milk jugs.
I love salads. I could eat them every day and never get tired. Unfortunately, the price of lettuce keeps rising even as the quality of lettuce offered in grocery stores deteriorates. I have always grown what I could during garden season, but that still left out winter and most of spring here. Being able to grow it indoors would be a huge blessing. Not to mention that it would save a lot of money.
I already had the grow lights and shelves and a nearly limitless supply of milk jugs thanks to the kids. And I’ve got plenty of lettuce seed. An article on the supplies needed for growing lettuce hydroponically posted earlier this month and is linked below, so those supplies won’t be discussed again here. This article will cover how to start your own hydroponic lettuce.
- Invert a plastic mesh net pot over the opening of each milk jug and trace around the net pot. Next, cut inside the marked line. Now, take the jugs outside to spray paint black or cover with aluminum foil. This step is optional. Both the spray paint and the foil serve to prevent the sun’s rays from causing a massive amount of algae to develop. If algae doesn’t bother you, you can skip this step.
- Soak the rockwool cubes in water, one cube per plastic mesh net pot. (I’ve read that peat moss, potting mix, and/or clay pebbles may also be used, but I haven’t tried those.)
- Drop 2-3 seeds into the hole in each rockwool cube and then pinch the top of the hole closed.
- Place the seeded rockwool cubes in the plastic mesh net pots.
- Add hydroponic nutrients to the milk jugs directly or make a solution if you are using smaller containers—½ teaspoon MasterBlend, ½ teaspoon Calcinit, and ¼ teaspoon Epsom salts per gallon. (I have also read that some people just use Miracle-Gro. I haven’t tried that either, but I will note that the N-P-K balance is much different and I suspect results wouldn’t be as good.)
- Add water, filling the jug if making a solution for using with smaller containers, or to within about 1.5 inches from the top if growing directly in the milk jugs.
- Test the pH using a pH meter or strips. Lettuce grows best at a pH of about 5.9. (Some people do not test the pH and are happy with their results. It is my guess that their tap water has a much lower pH than mine.)
- Add pH up or down if necessary.* Make a note of how many drops are needed so that you don’t have to stop every few drops to check.
- Place milk jugs under grow lights and keep lights on for about 12 hours each day.
- The seeds should germinate within 3-5 days. Thin to remove excess seedlings, if necessary.
- Lettuce leaves may be harvested at any time. Just pick off what you want for your meal and the plant will continue to grow more.
- After the first two weeks, check water levels weekly, adding more water as necessary.
*Yes, it is necessary for best results. I started lettuce as described above, but didn’t add pH down to some of the lettuce. Those plants are about 20% of the size of the lettuce that did have pH down added to it.
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