Grow Lettuce in Water using simplified hydroponics

Grow Lettuce in Water using simplified hydroponics by Pritham 'metal farmer' D'Souza


in my earlier posts i have showed in detail how to grow lettuce in floating bed. i had showed the procedure in making a float bed, with all imputs necessary like thermocol sheet, black plastic sheet, dishwasher sponge etc with transplanting technique.

now i plan to show the growth stages of lettuce in a step by step pictoral guide from seedling tray/tub stage to harvest stage.

i had first managed to transplant the young lettuce seedlings in grow bed which had coconut peat and rice husk as substrate as shown above.

transplanting was done when the seedlings were about 6 cm in height.

notice the roots on the day of transplanting. the photos were taken on march 3 2009.

in just a weeks time, there was rapid growth as seen above. the pic was taken on march 11, 2009


notice the height of the plant when i transplanted it from seed tray to grow bed. it was approx 6 cm.

the photo above shows me holding the same plant after it was transplanted in the float bed, just 15 days later. its height now is nearly 18 cm.
also look below and see how long the roots have grown.


the above 2 pics were clicked on 21 march 2009, 10 days later. they seem to have grown a lot more & also very healthy and green.

• remember to continuously aerate the float beds for min 2 minutes daily. i aerate it twice daily.
• lift the thermocol sheet and spalsh the water with your hand till bubbles are formed
  
• bubbles formed in aeration provide atmospheric oxygen to the roots & also destroy any insect eggs, if found.

my only concern is the lettuce though looking very healthy seems to droop & not stand upright. feedback related to this problem is appreciated.

all photos and data by pritham dsouza. to view photos in original size, click on photo to enlarge

Grow Lettuce on your Roof top using Simplified Hydroponics

Grow Lettuce On Your Rooftop Using Simplified Hydroponics by Pritham 'metal farmer' D'Souza

following are some very simple steps i took in creating my very own floating bed where i used it to grow lettuce.

the above pic shows lettuce seedlings germinated in seedling tray. i had to wait for a few days till they were a few inches tall before i could transplant them in my floating bed

i took a normal dishwashing sponge as seen above and cut it into square blocks measuring about 1 inch as seen below.


on each sponge block obtained i made a deep incision as seen above, at the middle

i took a normal thermacol sheet & made holes in them using a bottle cap.

since my carpentary skills are not as good as my guitar playing skills, i decided to use one of my normal grow bed tubs & convert the same into a floating bed (sorry peggy)
i covered the base, and the sides using black polythene sheet & taped the sides as seen above. then i filled it with already prepared nutrient water

i wet the seedling tray, and slowly picked up the lettuce seedlings as seen above & placed them gently in between the cut i had made on the sponge piece as seen below


notice the good root development above n the enlarged image below


another side view of the seedling placed in between the cut on the sponge block

notice the pic above has very small roots. i was not careful while removing the seedlings from the germinating tray, and as a result a lot of the roots here snapped. but i transplanted it anyways to see if it will survive

i plugged all the 12 holes with the seedlings & if you notice, at the bottom left, i transplanted a tomato seedling just for kicks!
the above photos were taken on march 5, 2009

just a day later, on march 6, 2009, i noticed, the roots slowly begining to look a lot healthier & the plants looking a lot stronger

i aerate the water everyday , twice with my hands & the bubbles thus formed help the roots get oxygen. it also eliminates mosquitoes from breeding as they prefer stagnant water, not daily aerated water.
the above pic was clicked on march 5, 2009, just 2 days after i transplanted. if one compares the photos, it is very clear, there has been rapid increase in length of the leaves and the plants look a lot greener.
i will post newer photos after a few weeks & see the development of my lettuce floating bed

all photos n data by Pritham dsouza