• Register  |
  • LoginLogin
Close
Login
 
 
Register
 Advanced search
  • Search
  • Register
  • Login
  • JOIN!
  • View unanswered posts
  • View active topics
  • Gardening
Gardening Forum   CONTAINER GARDENING  HYDROPONICS FORUM

Culling Lettuce




Post a new topic
Post a reply
20 posts • Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2

Culling Lettuce

Thu Aug 14, 2014 12:30 pm

I'm growing lettuce for the first time.
Do you bring it down to a single sprout for a head?
Here they are today...
Attachments
SANY0047.JPG
User avatar
Tabasco
Senior Member
 
Posts: 113
Joined: May 26 '14
Location: Zone 9a, 50 miles North of Tampa Fl
Top

Re: Culling Lettuce

Thu Aug 14, 2014 1:42 pm

I'd wait until they are bigger. That way you can harvest the baby lettuces when you cull. Are they gonna be transplanted?
Lindsay
Upstate, SC
USDA Zone 7b/ Sunset Zone 31
User avatar
Lindsaylew82
Mod
 
Posts: 2083
Joined: May 22 '14
Location: Upstate, SC
Top

Re: Culling Lettuce

Thu Aug 14, 2014 2:25 pm

Lindsaylew82 wrote:I'd wait until they are bigger. That way you can harvest the baby lettuces when you cull. Are they gonna be transplanted?


At that point do you bring it down to a single sprout?

Not transplant, the net cup goes into a deep water culture...

http://www.ctahr.hawaii.edu/hawaii/downloads/Three_Non-circulating_Hydroponic_Methods_for_Growing_lettuce.pdf

One of the coolest things I've ever seen!
User avatar
Tabasco
Senior Member
 
Posts: 113
Joined: May 26 '14
Location: Zone 9a, 50 miles North of Tampa Fl
Top

Re: Culling Lettuce

Thu Aug 14, 2014 2:31 pm

Yes, I would cull them down to one plant. But seriously, wait until you can get some type of baby lettuce harvest.
Lindsay
Upstate, SC
USDA Zone 7b/ Sunset Zone 31
User avatar
Lindsaylew82
Mod
 
Posts: 2083
Joined: May 22 '14
Location: Upstate, SC
Top

Re: Culling Lettuce

Thu Aug 14, 2014 4:28 pm

When you cull, snip off the other seedlings so as not to disturb what remains. Even if you left two seedlings in a pot in the hydro tank, you will still get two good sized heads, it just won't be pretty.
Happy gardening in Hawaii. Gardens are where people grow.
imafan26
Mod
 
Posts: 10608
Joined: Jan 1 '13
Location: hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.
Top

Re: Culling Lettuce

Fri Aug 15, 2014 4:09 am

Thanks people, lettuce is weird, you see all this stuff coming out of one place, a single sprout just doesn't seem right!
User avatar
Tabasco
Senior Member
 
Posts: 113
Joined: May 26 '14
Location: Zone 9a, 50 miles North of Tampa Fl
Top

Re: Culling Lettuce

Fri Aug 15, 2014 10:32 am

Haha! Not at first!

I LOVE seeing rows of 2-3" tall lettuces before thinning! So full and lush! I prefer baby lettuces, so they get thinned out really quickly at that point. :)
Lindsay
Upstate, SC
USDA Zone 7b/ Sunset Zone 31
User avatar
Lindsaylew82
Mod
 
Posts: 2083
Joined: May 22 '14
Location: Upstate, SC
Top

Re: Culling Lettuce

Fri Aug 15, 2014 1:03 pm

What media are you using Tabasco. Rockwool? One seeds per cell and no culling here.
Rairdog
Green Thumb
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Mar 16 '14
Location: Noblesville, IN Zone 5
Top

Re: Culling Lettuce

Fri Aug 15, 2014 1:45 pm

Rairdog wrote:What media are you using Tabasco. Rockwool? One seeds per cell and no culling here.


Good point!
I'm new to gardening and even newer to hydro.
User avatar
Tabasco
Senior Member
 
Posts: 113
Joined: May 26 '14
Location: Zone 9a, 50 miles North of Tampa Fl
Top

Re: Culling Lettuce

Fri Aug 15, 2014 1:47 pm

Lindsaylew82 wrote:Haha! Not at first!

I LOVE seeing rows of 2-3" tall lettuces before thinning! So full and lush! I prefer baby lettuces, so they get thinned out really quickly at that point. :)


As impatient as I am, that's what I'll do with these since I already way over-seeded the rock wools.
It'll give me something to graze on early in.
Lettuce seeds require reading glasses for me :D
User avatar
Tabasco
Senior Member
 
Posts: 113
Joined: May 26 '14
Location: Zone 9a, 50 miles North of Tampa Fl
Top

Re: Culling Lettuce

Fri Aug 15, 2014 3:10 pm

I'm just too impatient to sit and pick out one seed at a time. I'd have to use tweezers!
Lindsay
Upstate, SC
USDA Zone 7b/ Sunset Zone 31
User avatar
Lindsaylew82
Mod
 
Posts: 2083
Joined: May 22 '14
Location: Upstate, SC
Top

Re: Culling Lettuce

Fri Aug 15, 2014 6:21 pm

In the garden I will cull. For the AP my girls with good eyes put one seed per cell. It makes it easier to rinse the roots off before going into the media when they're not all tangled up. I also use the peat pellets with one seed each and place the whole pellet in the media for spinach and lettuce. It will rot the stems of tomatoes, peppers and other plants. Rockwool is too expensive for me. There are some foam type disks that has a slit in it. I'm not affliated but it is a cheaper greener sustitute. Great for cloning also. Here is a link but they are easy to make.
http://www.bigelowbrook.com/Products/Gr ... fault.aspx
Rairdog
Green Thumb
 
Posts: 373
Joined: Mar 16 '14
Location: Noblesville, IN Zone 5
Top

Re: Culling Lettuce

Fri Aug 15, 2014 11:05 pm

Rairdog wrote:In the garden I will cull. For the AP my girls with good eyes put one seed per cell. It makes it easier to rinse the roots off before going into the media when they're not all tangled up. I also use the peat pellets with one seed each and place the whole pellet in the media for spinach and lettuce. It will rot the stems of tomatoes, peppers and other plants. Rockwool is too expensive for me. There are some foam type disks that has a slit in it. I'm not affliated but it is a cheaper greener sustitute. Great for cloning also. Here is a link but they are easy to make.
http://www.bigelowbrook.com/Products/Gr ... fault.aspx


I went to the only online store I could find and the disks aren't for sale yet, so I don't know if they are cost effective.
I will say that their roots are ok looking, and that's being generous.
Also, their own picture shows some nasty algae on the bottom of the plug, not thrilled with that when it comes to re-use.

Rockwool cubes are about 18 cents each. That, nutrient and any electric bring a head of lettuce to about $1.
I can certainly live with that.

It's rock, and the amount left after say a year of what I grow wouldn't fill a small trash bag.
It could easily be pulverized and mixed into soil. I would hesitate to do that with that pool float material.
Attachments
CloseUp-sm.jpg
User avatar
Tabasco
Senior Member
 
Posts: 113
Joined: May 26 '14
Location: Zone 9a, 50 miles North of Tampa Fl
Top

Re: Culling Lettuce

Sat Aug 16, 2014 8:48 pm

You can use oasis plugs. you don't need a lot of media. The media is mostly for stabilizing. we used the oasis plugs in a seeding flat that has flow by water to keep it moist. After that the plugs are dropped in a 3 inch net pot on a floating raft system. When it is time to harvest, the roots have filled the net pot and are dangling in the water.
The only thing you have to be careful about is to make sure the plug has a level bottom when it is taken out or it is nearly impossible to keep it upright in the pot. Plugs can be planted in other media too, like hydroton, cinder, or even in a regular garden bed.

http://www.oasiseasyhydro.com/oasis-eas ... roduct.asp
Happy gardening in Hawaii. Gardens are where people grow.
imafan26
Mod
 
Posts: 10608
Joined: Jan 1 '13
Location: hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.
Top

Re: Culling Lettuce

Sat Aug 16, 2014 10:14 pm

imafan26 wrote:You can use oasis plugs.

http://www.oasiseasyhydro.com/oasis-eas ... roduct.asp


Those look interesting, a lot like rock wool, but cheaper if you don't mind buying in bulk.
I can't find them in less than 20 sheet lots!

Still, it brings the cost down by about $5 per sheet.
User avatar
Tabasco
Senior Member
 
Posts: 113
Joined: May 26 '14
Location: Zone 9a, 50 miles North of Tampa Fl
Top

Please Share. Thank you!

 
 
Top

Next

Post a reply
20 posts • Page 1 of 2 • 1, 2

 

 

  •   Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post
  • Kratky Lettuce Attachment(s)
    in HYDROPONICS FORUM
    2
    1315
    by imafan26 View the latest post
  • Specialty lettuce
    in HYDROPONICS FORUM
    4
    2229
    by Hydrogardener View the latest post
  • Leaf Lettuce
    1, 2, 3 in HYDROPONICS FORUM
    41
    13019
    by The Mad Hatter View the latest post
  • Lettuce not looking so good.
    in HYDROPONICS FORUM
    6
    2523
    by brogz View the latest post
Return to HYDROPONICS FORUM
  • Delete all board cookies • All times are UTC
Privacy Policy | Contact Us
Copyright HelpfulGardener.com 2003-2018 all rights reserved.
All trademarks and copyrights held by respective owners.