Growing Lettuce In A Floating Hydroponics System

Linda from South Carolina sent me a really cool email last night about her efforts to grow lettuce during the winter months. It’s floating! How cool is that?!

Linda says lettuce can be grown in a floating system inside your house or outside in a greenhouse depending on your winter temperatures.  One of Linda’s goals is to eat something at each meal that she grew or canned herself, and so far she has been very successful at it.

I’ve never grown ANYTHING in water before but this is how she does it:

She starts with metal shelves and hangs two sets of regular shop lights on top of each shelf.

For each shelf you would need a plastic container that fits under the {garden} bed. Typically about 48 inches long. You’ll also need a 4′ x 8′ by 1″ inch styrofoam board and some small plastic bathroom cups.

First cut your styrofoam board in half so it’s 2′ by 4′ and glue the pieces together. Then using a 2″ hole drill, cut holes about 4″ apart. Fill the plastic container with water mixed with liquid fertilizer. {For about three gallons of total liquid}.

If you do leaf lettuce varieties, you can put the holes twice as close or 4 across and 10 down so they are 2″ apart for about 40 holes.

Linda starts her lettuce in small 1 1/2″ paper pots that she makes. Then once the lettuce begins to grow she places them into little bathroom cups. (What you see in the picture are some greenhouse hydroponic net pots, but she uses bathroom cups as well.)

Then she punches holes in the bottom and sides of the bathroom cups so the roots can grow out and into the water. She also has a small air pump, air tubing and an air rock she puts in the bottom of the container for aerating the water. (One small pump can do two containers.)

Here is a picture of some lettuce she grew. Linda started seeds on January 5 and then put them into the little pots January 20, then placed them in the floating beds on February 1st.

The lettuce will probably be ready to start harvesting in another week. Some of the leafy ones on the far right are ready now but the green is a soft head iceberg type lettuce so it needs a little longer.

Linda says this is super simple to do and she has four of these floating beds growing right now.

Way to go Linda!!! 🙂

~Mavis

{Shelly’s Chicken Coop}

A big THANK YOU to everyone who has sent in their photographs and stories. I hope by sharing other peoples pictures and stories here on One Hundred Dollars a Month we can all glean some ideas from each other.

If you would like to have your garden, chicken coop or something you’ve made featured on One Hundred Dollars a Month, here’s what I’m looking for:

• Your Garden Pictures and Tips – I’d especially like to see your garden set ups, growing areas, and know if you are starting seeds indoors this year. If so,  show me some picture of how you are going about it.
• Your Chicken and Chicken Related Stories – Coops, Chicks, Hen’s, Roosters, Eggs, you name it. If it clucks, send us some pictures to share with the world.
• Cool Arts & Crafts – Made from your very own hands with detailed {and well photographed} pictures and instructions.
• Your pictures and stories about your pets. The more pictures and details the better.
• Garage Sale, Thrift Store and Dumpster Diving pictures and the stories behind the treasures you found including how much you paid for them.

If I feature your pictures and the stories behind them on One Hundred Dollars a Month, I will send you a $20.00 gift card to the greatest store in the world: Amazon.com.

Go  HERE for the official rules.