Indoor lettuce?

I heard today that you can grow lettuce indoors, since the theme or my gardening lately has been indoor I thought that I might give it a try.
Has anyone tried this method and do the results compare at all to outdoor lettuce?

 

Hello CBA--By "indoor" I am not sure if you mean inside your house, or in a cold frame or greenhouse.
I can tell you that every year I grow lettuces (butterleaf and iceberg) in my green house while I am waiting for the toms and paprikas to grow up. They are the best and cleanest that I grow all year including the "outside" ones. They are also pest-free.
I would say that in that warm milieu, the only thing that I must do is water them regularly. It's easy-peasy.

 

Hi Crystalblue! Yes ofcourse you can grow lettuce indoors. Indoors meaning house. I have grown done it and probaly will be doing the same again this year. (if i can find the compost i have under the snow) Start out just as you would any seed starting. When it gets big enough to transfer i put 3 seedlings in a 10 litre bucket. Filled with dirt and compost. Lots of light and water faithfully, and you will have lettuce anytime of the year. Because lettuce grows so fast, you will only need to compost once, unless you plan on using the container for more, then change out the dirt and goodies and start again.

 

hi crystal! we grow lettuce inside the cabin during the winter months, too.

what i do is take the bottom of a lettuce core (like Romaine), leaving an inch when i cut it, and place it in water, cut side up. in a few days leaves will start forming in the center on the top. then you plant it in some soil and leave it in a sunny window.

it will keep producing lettuce for a long long long time! i have also done this with Bok Choy, celery, and many other things. i am doing the Bok Choy for the first time this winter and it's doing the best of all!

with the top piece of a carrot, you can grow carrot greens all winter long. they're great in soups, stews, etc...

we also start plants from seed, but find growing like this a lot of fun!

 

Wow bunkie! That sure does sound like an easy way to grow veggies indoors! I may have to try that instead of always starting plants from seeds, it almost sounds like instant gratification!

 

it really is lives! you won't believe how fast these things take off! and you can't beat 'fresh'!

 

wow sounds just like a pineapple....i was thinking from seeds but I'll have to give that a try too, thanks for all the suggestions guys.

 

I am definitely going to try some of your ideas Bunkie. I hate grocery store lettuce in the winter. Never even thought of that at home during the winter. Duhhhhh..........

 

newf, i got the idea from an old book i had and it was a way to teach kids about growing things, like the sweet potato in a glass of water. i just took it a step from there and voila...a forest!

 

Wow, those are two great ideas from Biita and Bunkie.

Bunkie, once the leaves come up on the lettuce, what do you do? Just pot it up in a pot?

 

Wow!! never knew that lettuce can be grown indoors. Bunkie I am going to try your method but I need to know what kind of room temperature we are talking about. My room temperature is between 29°C to 32°C but now it is at the extreme of 34C° .... why so hot!!!

OK back to lettuce, so far I had no luck with them in the open and I can't even get the seeds to germinate. I checked with some veggie sellers and they had a good laugh at me because their supply of lettuces are either from cooler countries or highlands where the temperature are cooler.

I'll be really happy if I can find a way to plant lettuce here :-D but .......

 

Bunkie - you know those old books are great. Sometimes doing things the good old fashioned way without all the newfangled info or gadgets is truly the best. I have found that to be so true once I got away from all the "man made" fertilizers, etc. I'm reading a book right now on old fashioned root cellaring. Not the tornado shelter kind, but old fashioned ways people used to store their veggies. Very interesting I must say. Might just try some. I'm sure going to work on that lettuce.

KK Ng - I bet you can grow some beautiful tropicals though!

 

newf, i totally agree on the 'old ways'! and old books!

i just got a book on root cellars too! also have been experimenting with making my own fertilizer with bacteria and micro organisms called LB and EM/BIM. here's the article that got me started...

Using the ordinary to cultivate the mysterious power of beneficial indigenous microorganisms

http://www.rodaleinstitute.org/20040401/Hamilton

Like a cut-rate magician, Philippine farmer and scientist Gil Carandang teaches farmers how to use cheap vodka, generic brown sugar, milk, rice and local soil to harness local microorganisms as invisible workhorses on their farms.....

have made LB and hoping to get BIM under my belt come spring. these homemade concoctions really do work...so far anyway!

kk, we have a drafty kitchen window where i grow my lettuce, so it stays cool. i would put it in a coolish place. remember, lettuce doesn't need too much light or sun.

also kk, about growing lettuce from seed, i put the seed in the soil in a flat, then i put it close to the floor on a shelf or direclty on the floor in the house, cause it's cool there. lettuce likes cold to germinate. also, i put a piece of dark cloth over the tray. lettuce likes darkness to germinate also. that might help.

daisy, once there is green growing out of the stump, you can pot it right away, or leave it for awhile grwoing in the water, then pot.

ps. one other thought kk, there are lettuce varieties out there that will grow in summer heat. i will be trying them later this summer. one is Jericho from Bountiful Gardens, and another is Heatwave from Cook's Garden.

 

So many good ideas. Wow, growing my romaine cores got me excited. I can't wait to try it. I have little ledges on my basement windows that will be PERFECT. Thanks.

 

Thanks for the very useful tips bunkie, I will make use of all of it and get me at least one plant for a start :-D

Newf tropical leafy veggies is so limited, I want more varieties.