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Not all city residents have their own land on which to garden. But even in this situation there is a way out, for example, try growing lettuce on the windowsill at home. This will not require significant expenses, but it can diversify the menu, especially in winter.
Is it possible to grow lettuce on a windowsill?
You can grow lettuce on a windowsill, and many people do it quite successfully at home. Of course, such agricultural technology has quite a lot of nuances.
Growing lettuce on a windowsill is quite easy.
This applies to both the growing process itself and the planting material used, since not all lettuce varieties can grow indoors.
What kind of salad can be grown on a windowsill in winter?
In order to successfully grow lettuce on a windowsill, it is important, first of all, to choose a suitable variety.It must have the following characteristics:
- Possibility of cultivation in closed ground conditions.
- Resistance to shooting.
- Growth in short daylight conditions or under artificial light.
- Short ripening period.
The following varieties meet all these conditions:
- Aficion. This variety of lettuce belongs to the Batavia species, which is considered by many to be ideal for growing at home. It takes approximately 30-35 days to mature. The bright green curly leaves are collected in a large rosette; the plant does not form a head. The consistency of the leaf is juicy, dense, breaking occurs with a characteristic crunch. The taste is pleasant.Important! The variety has excellent bolting resistance.
Aficyon is a leafy plant and does not form a head of cabbage.
- Fanley. This lettuce variety also belongs to the Batavia species. The leaves are curly, green, collected in a large rosette, the weight of which can reach up to 0.4 kg. This lettuce variety takes about 35 days to fully ripen. It is often grown for sale in greenhouses because it has an attractive appearance and good transportability.
Fanli is grown in many greenhouses
- Lettuce. Popular in many countries and well-known is a type of annual lettuce that is grown under artificial conditions. It includes such popular varieties as Maysky, Odessky, Snezhinka. They all have similar characteristics. Lettuce ripens quite quickly; after just 1 month its leaves can be eaten. Lettuce can be grown all year round, which is successfully done by many farmers in Europe, America and Japan. In Russia, this type of salad is not so popular, since many of its varieties have a slight bitter taste.
Lettuce can be grown on a windowsill all year round
- Iceberg. This type of salad can be found under the names ice salad, ice mountain or ice salad. A special feature of this species is the cabbage shape of the leaves. They are light green, juicy, crispy. The head of cabbage can weigh up to 1 kg. The peculiarity of this salad is the taste of the leaves, which is not similar to the traditional one. It is slightly sweet, in addition to this, it often exhibits a slight bitterness. Ice salad is well stored fresh; it can not lose its culinary properties for up to 3 weeks.
Ice lettuce is shaped like a head of cabbage
- Romano. This type of annual head lettuce is a relative of lettuce. The leaves are light green, very elongated, collected in a rather loose head. A distinctive feature of Romano is its taste. It is very delicate, with nutty notes. Due to its bright taste, this species is traditionally used to prepare Caesar salad.
The elongated head of Romano is easy to distinguish from other varieties
- Watercress. This species includes quite a few varieties, such as Vitaminchik, Dukat, Abundant-leaved. All of them ripen within 30-45 days from the moment of planting, and the first greens can be obtained within 2-2.5 weeks. All types of watercress are unpretentious and tolerate indoor microclimate well.
Watercress contains many useful substances.
You can grow other types of lettuce on the windowsill. There are a lot of suitable varieties for this.
How to plant lettuce leaves on the windowsill at home
The agricultural technology for growing lettuce from seeds on a windowsill is standard and, depending on the variety, varies slightly. By following these general recommendations, you can get the look you like in an apartment or private house without any problems.
Preparing the soil and planting container
To grow lettuce at home on a windowsill, you can adapt any available container of suitable size, for example, a flower pot, a plastic container or a wooden box. The latter are best used for leafy varieties, but large-headed varieties need to be grown in separate large pots. Be sure to use drainage made of small stones or pebbles, laid in a layer at the bottom of the container, as well as a tray to collect excess moisture.
You can use a variety of containers for planting lettuce.
In terms of soil, lettuce does not have any special requirements. To grow it on a windowsill, you can use purchased soil for seedlings or prepare a soil mixture with your own hands by mixing sand, humus and turf soil in equal proportions. Planting containers must be thoroughly washed, disinfected, and then filled with soil almost to the top.
Preparation of planting material
Novice gardeners usually use the seed method to grow lettuce at home in winter on the windowsill. Planting material, namely seeds of the variety you like, can be purchased in a store or ordered online. Before planting, the seeds are soaked for 24 hours in cold water, this increases their germination rate. If there are doubts about the quality of the seeds, then before sowing they are kept for an additional 15-20 minutes in a solution of potassium permanganate.
Rules for planting lettuce on the windowsill
For growing on a windowsill, the seeds are planted quite tightly. This is done in order to then carry out thinning, discarding weak shoots. The landing procedure itself is not complicated. Grooves about 1 cm deep are drawn on the surface of the earth, placing them at a distance of about 1 cm from each other.
Lettuce seeds are planted densely, with subsequent thinning in mind.
The seeds are sown in them, and then lightly dusted with earth. The soil is slightly moistened with a spray bottle, then the container is covered with film or glass and put in a warm place.
Caring for lettuce leaves on the windowsill
Before germination, the container with the planted seeds is periodically ventilated, removing the transparent cover from them. If the soil dries out, it must be moistened with a spray bottle with slightly warm softened water. Shoots appear quite quickly. After 5-7 days, the first shoots may appear. From this moment, the cover is removed from the containers with seedlings, and the containers themselves are transferred to a lighted place, usually to a windowsill or table placed next to the window.
Optimal conditions for growing lettuce in a pot on a windowsill
At normal room temperature of about + 22-24 °C, lettuce grows very well on the windowsill. However, in winter it may be cold near the window, so at such times it is better to move it further away, deeper into the room. In heated rooms, as a rule, the humidity is very low, so the seedlings are sprayed with settled water at room temperature 1-2 times a day.
Spraying with water compensates for the lack of air humidity in the room
Daylight hours in winter are clearly insufficient for the normal growth of most lettuce varieties.In this case, only artificial illumination using additional light sources helps. You can use standard fluorescent lamps to illuminate plants by attaching them above the containers. However, it is more rational to use special phytolamps that produce light in certain color ranges. With the help of lighting devices, the duration of daylight hours is artificially increased, bringing it to 13-14 hours.
With the help of phytolamps, the length of daylight is artificially increased
Watering
Lettuce loves water and requires regular watering, otherwise its leaves will lose the juiciness and crispy texture characteristic of this plant and become lethargic. Water the plants once a day, usually in the morning. The condition of the soil must be monitored and not allowed to dry out.
Feeding lettuce on the windowsill
When grown indoors, lettuce usually does not require fertilizing. Fertilizer is applied only if there is a clear growth retardation. For feeding, you can use any composition for indoor flowers, which must be diluted in water and applied to the root zone.
Liquid flower fertilizers are used to fertilize lettuce.
The dosage of the drug is calculated in accordance with the instructions for use of each specific fertilizer.
Useful tips
There are many recommendations from experienced gardeners that allow you to grow lettuce on a windowsill at the lowest cost and with good efficiency. Here are the main points to pay attention to:
- The lettuce does not tolerate picking well, so it is not replanted.
- The first thinning should be done after a couple of leaves appear on the plant. Further thinning of the plantings is carried out as the plants grow in such a way as to prevent competition between neighboring shoots.
- Headed varieties of lettuce are thinned out more or planted in individual containers, since they require more free space than leafy ones.
- In winter, it is better to keep containers on the windowsill on the south or southwest side of the house.
- To constantly have fresh herbs on the table, it is recommended to plant seeds at intervals of 10-14 days. If varieties have different ripening periods, then you need to focus on this indicator.
- If the lettuce has released a flower arrow, it is better to remove the entire bush at once. The greens on it almost immediately become rough and lose their taste.
Conclusion
Growing lettuce on the windowsill yourself is not difficult, even in winter. This is a good way to diversify the menu with fresh herbs; besides, the leaves of this plant are not only tasty, but also very useful due to the content of a large number of valuable organic compounds and microelements. And for enterprising people, growing lettuce indoors can be a good business.
