Growing Lettuce In A Container Garden

Fresh raw salads are an important part of a healthy diet. Lettuce and other produce you buy at the grocery store can be treated with chemicals or even tainted with organisms that can make you sick. Organic produce from a whole foods store is expensive. A good option is to grow your own lettuce so you can be assured you are eating organic healthy produce.

Lettuce is easy to grow in a container garden because it has short roots and doesn't require a whole lot of soil or space. In fact, many salad plants can be grown quite easily with container gardening containers that you can do even with limited space. If you have the desire, you can keep your family well stocked with healthy fresh produce straight from the plant.

Most any types of small garden pots or large container will work for growing lettuce gardens.

It can be shallow but since lettuce likes to stay moist, a deeper container may work better since it will hold onto moisture longer. However, the container must have holes in the bottom so the soil can adequately drain or the lettuce will stay too wet to thrive.

If you are using a plastic container that doesn't already have holes, cut several holes into the bottom.

You can then line the bottom of the container with a screen or rocks so that the soil doesn't drain out along with the water. Next, fill the container with potting soil and add organic fertilizer.

With the soil properly fertilized, you are ready to add the lettuce seedlings to your container garden.

Separate the seedlings and place them into the soil so the roots are covered but do not plant them too deep, especially in hanging garden basket planters. To care for your growing plants, water them often enough to keep the soil moist. Keep the soil from drying out completely but don't over water your lettuce either.

For the initial watering after planting the lettuce seedlings, water the plants until water runs out of the holes in the bottom of the container.

For subsequent watering, it is best to water them thoroughly less often than to water them lightly on a more frequent basis. Lettuce does not require much care at all other than water and sunlight. It won't take much work to have a steady supply of lettuce from your container garden for your family to eat a big healthy salad every day.

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