I'm all about salad! I have some seeds growing that I planted in perlite in 2" net cups that germinated in 3 days! Using hydroponics, I can harvest lettuce up to 50% faster than growing in the soil giving me basically a perpetual living salad. To do this, there are several methods or rather, systems you can utilize, with one specifically called a lettuce raft. This is the system that my seedlings will graduate into as they grow bigger but you can start them off and I'm assuming I can possibly even grow from start to finish in the setup I am using today.
I am using an ebb and flow system that continuously runs effectively making it a NFT system (another system that is excellent for shallow root veggies like lettuce). To adjust the water, use different height overflow tubes (the grey part in the picture).
MAKE YOUR OWN BIOFILTER
There is a thick layer of expanded clay pellets on the bottom of the tray to serve two purposes:
1- to keep the water level at the right height so the net cup sits on top of a super thin film of water. This way the perlite wicks up the moisture (can travel up to 8" high in the pot) from the grow bed up into the part that holds the seed providing excellent air flow and moisture.
2- I inoculated the grow bed with Subculture M by General Hydroponics and Voodoo Juice by Advance Nutrients. Giving the beneficial bacteria a large surface to attach itself to, provides a breeding bed to promote healthy roots and fight root rot. Trichaderma species of bennies are excellent to fight pythium rot or so I hear.
YUMMY YUMMY NUTES
You have to run a very low (200-350 ppm) nutrient solution in the reservoir. Seeds don't even need nutrients really because the seed provides it's own till it germinates. I like to use a few though and so I mix up some Super Thrive and Rapidstart.
Super Thrive is tried and true old school nutes that are great for vegetative growth. I have heard some people having issues during flower and I am of the opinion that your plant should be healthy from taking it's "vitamins" while it was growing up so it's really up to you.
Rapidstart is another great nute for seedlings and the first couple weeks of veg. there are a lot of people showing comparisons and the results are really worth the price of the bottle ;)
Another way to speed up growth is to make sure your seedlings are getting the correct light spectrum and strength. I am using a metal halide 1000 watt which is super for leafy vegetables and provides the BEST spectrum that is superior to CFL bulbs or T5's. I choose a 1000 watt so I can raise it up and get a larger light footprint while still providing a great par rating. If you're interested in how lights work, there are several options which I will have to elaborate further some other time.
If you don't want to buy an ebb and flow table like mine, then you can use any Rubbermaid type container, kitty litter tray, anything really to design a lettuce raft using stuff around the house and a cheap Styrofoam panel from Home Depot. Here's a video that shows how the lettuce raft works: lettuce rafts explained
The tub to hold the water needs to be at least 6-8 inches deep because the nutrient solution will settle towards the bottom making it a little stronger the further the roots grow. There is a lot of info on the Internet showing all different set ups that people have creatively come up with and also many scholarly articles from universities agricultural dept's that have wonderful advice. This is where I get most of my information on veggies and what they like.
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