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SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,825

Lettuce

What is a salad with no lettuce,,,,,not a very good one....

We need food that can grow at a good rate, take up little resource or crews time to farm and gives us the benefits to oxygen plus a waste stream to make use of....

Not only fresh but preserved for later if possible should be considered as well in each of the food items...

Lettuce Horticulture Information Leaflet

Home gardeners: Lettuce seed for transplants can be sown directly in a coldframe or hotbed, or they can be grown in plastic trays. Growing plants in plastic containers is likely too expensive except for home garden use.

In coldframes, 10 to 12 weeks is required to grow an acceptable transplant, while a heated greenhouse or hotbed requires 4 to 5 weeks. The seeds should be planted in rows 4 to 6 inches apart. Thin the plants to a uniform spacing of 1 to 2 inches. This will produce stocky plants and reduce the chances of damping-off.

alternative method of growth not in soil
Hydroponic Lettuce Background: Systems & Techniques

http://hydroponicseducation.com/wp-cont … ettuce.pdf

http://www.uky.edu/Ag/CCD/introsheets/hydrolettuce.pdf

The ISS has shown that we can grow a leafy style of lettuce so why not have several varieties of them to keep the color changing it up while we have some salad....
Pass the dressing.....
Well that is a start for now...

louis

Member

From: UK

Registered: 2008-03-24

Posts: 7,208

Re: Lettuce

In response to the initial post by SpaceNut:

I am sure we will be able to grow a range of salad vegetables.

Lettuce has shallow roots - good for a layered farm hab.  Tomatoes have surprisingly deep roots. But I have seen them in relatively shallow pots producing good fruit (I think technically tomatoes are fruits).

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SpaceNut

Administrator

From: New Hampshire

Registered: 2004-07-22

Posts: 28,825

Re: Lettuce

Another crop that is soil grown simular to lettuce is Cabage.... which would be just a change of pace from salads all the time... now if we had some corn-beef to go with it.

In either case I think this crop (lettuce) is best a hydroponic grown for quick growth....