LKABudMan grows a Salad! Growing Hydro Lettuce

LKABudMan

LKABudMan

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I love a nice fresh salad. The problem is that it's getting harder and harder to get good lettuce. I'm tired of over-priced lettuce in a bag that goes bad in a day. I love fresh lettuce from the farmers market, but that doesn't last much longer and can get really expensive. I want to have fresh lettuce and I want it year round. I find myself with an extra tent and extra lights, and I really don't need more weed right now. So, I've decided to grow my own hydroponic lettuce.

I have a 4x2 tent, but I'd like to grow tomatoes in the tent as well. I'm not sure if this will work or not. To maximize the space, the lettuce will be grown in a @VIVOSUN wall-mount hydroponic grower mounted to the back of the 4x2 tent. The seeds were started in "The Playpen", my 32x32x60 tent.

Equipment:
Strains - 6 heirloom varieties of lettuce (Prizehead, Bibb, Buttercrunch, Iceburg, Parris Island Romaine, Red Oakleaf ) + spinich & kale
Grow space - 32x32x60 tent in basement
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Medium - Hydro sponges in domed tray
Propogation trays with domes
VIVOSUN heat mat with controller
Nutrients - None (then light MC)
Light - 100w LED @ 30" (<8000 lux)
Extraction - 4" extraction fan
8" corner fan + 6" oscillating fan
Water - Carbon-filtered well water (100ppm/8.0pH)

8/20/22

I started with two trays of 24 hydro sponges, 48 sponges in total. First I wet all the sponges in plain water, making sure they were fully soaked. They'll only hold as much moisture as they need.

There were 8 rows of 6 sponges, so we planted 6 sponges of each type. To increase the odds each sponge got two seeds. Next time I'll only do one seed in each sponge, as most of the sponges ended up with two sprouts. For now, I'm leaving both of them. Since this is hydro, the roots shouldn't really compete with each other. Eventually I'll probably need to cull one just for space in the system.

All of the trays got a little bit of water in the bottom and then were placed on the heat mat set at 75f. I think the heat mat + dome makes all the difference to seed germination. Not only does the heat mat keep the seeds warm, but it also heats the water in the bottom of the tray and causes condensation/humidity in the dome. The seeds are kept at 75f and 99% humidity, but still have plenty of oxygen.
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Seeds were already sprouting the next day. Within 2 days you could see roots coming out of the bottom of the sponges. One the third day the whole tray sprouted so I took the dome off. At that point I had to add water every morning. Toward the end of the week I was adding a light nutrient solution (250ppm). I added about 100ml every morning.
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After 6 days more had an inch of root. For some reason the spinach didn't germinate at all. I'm not sure if the seeds were bad or if they take longer. Each sponge was separated and put into a netpot. Since the lettuce grower wasn't yet set up, we put the netpots in a propagator dish and filled halfway with a light nutrient solution. At the end of the day we had 4 dishes of lettuce, ready to go into the system.
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#VIVOSUN #LoveWhatYouGrow
 
About the VIVOSUN Wall-Mounted Hydroponic 36 Plant Site Grow Kit
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Clean & Environmentally Friendly: Soil-less cultivation with Nutrient Film Technique can meet the production potential of crops; Compared with traditional soil cultivation, the yield can be doubled; Requires less water and less space

Timed Circulatory System: The default setting of the timer allows the pump to work for 5 minutes every 30 minutes to reach the nutrient film technique; The circulation mode can also be set manually or automatically according to demand; not only makes the pump more durable, saves nutrient solution, but also makes vegetables better growth!

East Setup: The water culture garden plant system is extremely simple to assemble and use; Great for beginners! No experience required; It is easy to take care of, no arable land, no weeds, saving time and energy

Specification & Application: Each PVC pipe is 4.3 feet(1.3 meters) long and 2.5 inches (6.3cm) in diameter with ample space for vegetables, flowers, and plants; It is especially suitable for leafy vegetables in homes, gardens, and offices, such as lettuce, rape, celery, beets, bell pepper, garlic seedlings, canola, etc

#VIVOSUN #LoveWhatYouGrow

My Notes:
Assembly was very easy. It came with the four cross pieces and two end pieces, along with the drain. Everything fit together very snug and no glue was needed. I didn't use any of the hanging equipment that came with it, as it was for wall mounting and I mounted in a tent.

I was able to hang it using light hanging ropes. I used two hangers to hang the bottom of the lettuce grower from the top of the tent. I used two more to brace the light hanger in the middle and keep it from swinging out. It's pretty stable and seems to be working well.

The drain pipe that it came with would be fine for an open hydro bucket in the tent. Then again, that's a recipe for algae. So, I made a couple of modifications:
1. I replaced the drain pipe at the bottom for 1"ID black drain hose. It fit nice and snug, and now I can drain to an outside res.
2. I was going to replace the clear pump tubing that came with the kit, and still might. Since the pump runs for 5mins every 30mins, and the tube is empty when the pump is not running, it is not as big a deal. However, black tubing would be better.
3. I used a 2g bucket outside of the tent as the res.

It comes with a small submersible pump. By default, the pump runs for 5 minutes every 30 minutes. It's enough to keep the water from getting stagnant. You can change it to run for 30 minutes at a time, which is good for mixing when you add nutes.

The pipes have a reducer at each end, so it holds water all of the time. I didn't measure how much, but I would guess it holds about 4-6 liters. When the pump runs, it recycles the water through the system and back to the res. I thought about adding an air stone to the res, but you can hear it falling from level to level, meaning it should be getting plenty of air.
 
8/28/22 - Day 8 from seed
Strains - 6 heirloom varieties of lettuce (Prizehead, Bibb, Buttercrunch, Iceburg, Parris Island Romaine, Red Oakleaf ) + spinich & kale
Grow space - 24x48x60 tent in basement
Medium - Hydro sponges in VIVOSUN well-mounted hydroponic grow kit (36 sites)
Nutrients - Mega Crop @ 2g/G (600ppm/5.8pH) + Hydroguard
Light - 250w LED @ 70%
Extraction - 4" extraction fan
8" corner fan + Tower oscillating fan
Water - Carbon-filtered well water (100ppm/8.0pH)

I was able to hang the hydro system on the back wall of the tent by myself with four light hangers; two holding the weight from the bottom corners, and two more holding the system against the back wall.

I put about a gallon of plain water in the bucket to test it out, and turned on the pump. I didn't realize at the time that the system held so much water. I ended up putting about 2 more gallons into the bucket to fill the system. I then added Mega Crop @ 2g/G ratio and some Hydroguard. I pH'ed to 5.8 using phDown.

Then it was jut a matter of putting the netpots in the system. We labeled each row for the six lettuces and the kale. The two end rows are a mixture of whatever was left over.

The light is installed angled toward the back of the tent. Using my light meter, it looks like it is close to 10k lux across the system, += 3k. We'll see how they grow.
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#VIVOSUN #LoveWhatYouGrow
 
9/5/22 - Day 16 from seed
Strains - 6 heirloom varieties of lettuce (Prizehead, Bibb, Buttercrunch, Iceburg, Parris Island Romaine, Red Oakleaf ) + kale
Grow space - 24x48x60 tent in basement
Medium - Hydro sponges in VIVOSUN well-mounted hydroponic grow kit (36 sites)
Nutrients - Mega Crop @ 2g/G (~600ppm/5.8pH) + Hydroguard
Light - 250w LED @ 70%
Extraction - 4" extraction fan
8" corner fan + Tower oscillating fan
Water - Carbon-filtered well water (100ppm/8.0pH)

So far I'm loving this @VIVOSUN hydro system. For the first week I didn't do anything, just watched it grow.

Yesterday I added 2l of water with 2g MC and 4ml Hydroguard. I also added a touch of pH Down to bring it from 6.4 down to 5.8.

I love watching these little guys grow. You can see that some are still 'twins', from two seeds. As they get bigger, I may need to harvest one of them. I tried a few baby leaves yesterday and they were fantastic. The texture of fresh baby lettuce is something you can't get from the store. I'm getting excited to start harvesting!

I figure I have a week or two. I'm thinking 30-35 days for maturity. For the loose leaf lettuces, I'll probably start harvesting this week. Just a few of the outer leaves, leaving the inner leaves to keep growing. For the head lettuces that may be harder. I may need to harvest some heads whole. We'll see how they grow in the next week, and then I may start a few more seeds just in case.
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#VIVOSUN #LoveWhatYouGrow
 
Brewsterman said:
Looks good, but looks expensive to grow lettuce. I grew some just using what I had on hand
lettuce seems to grow pretty good even without air stone or constant water movement
my set up here https://www.420magazine.com/community/threads/hydroponic-lettuce.457749/
I also did cucumbers
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Agreed. I've played around with homemade setups like yours. I really wanted something I could install on the side of the tent, and I didn't want to build something myself. If I end up using it year round, and can still use the tent for other things, it'll be worth it.
 
9/12/22 - Day 23 from seed
Strains - 6 heirloom varieties of lettuce (Prizehead, Bibb, Buttercrunch, Iceburg, Parris Island Romaine, Red Oakleaf ) + kale
Grow space - 24x48x60 tent in basement
Medium - Hydro sponges in Vivosun well-mounted hydroponic grow kit (36 sites)
Nutrients - Mega Crop @ 2.5g/G (~650ppm/5.8pH) + Hydroguard
Light - 250w LED @ 70%
Extraction - 4" extraction fan
8" corner fan + Tower oscillating fan
Water - Carbon-filtered well water (100ppm/8.0pH)

Not even three weeks from seed and we had some nice fresh salads this weekend :) The growth in the system has been exponential. As the leaves and roots get bigger they grow faster.
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On Saturday afternoon (Day 21) I harvested the bottom row. The lettuce was tender and delicious (well, except the kale, which has ... a unique taste).
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By Sunday you could already see the lettuce on the bottom row growing back, so we harvested the top row.
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I'm having to feed them 2L of nutrients every day. I'm getting pretty quick at mixing it up, mostly eye-balling the MC. I check pH & ppm regularly and add pH down when needed. They are staying around 600-700ppm and 5.8-6.5pH. I've considered getting a bigger res, I have a few totes lying around that should do. I'm worried about the system overflowing, though, if the roots clog the systems.

I decided to see if I could check the roots going into the pipe ends. It was easier than I thought, and it turned out it was time to trim them. I pulled any roots past the last spot in that row out and trimmed them off. This one was just about to tangle up with the next level!
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Right now it looks like I can harvest the outside leaves and let the inside keep growing. As long as I can keep the roots out of the joints it looks like we can keep this going a while. I'll see how long it takes the harvested rows to get back to harvest size. That will tell me how often I can harvest. Now let's see if I can get thee tomatoes to catch up ;)
 
We've been thinking of a system just like this over here. Especially if we move up a little further into Vermont. Love salads and want an easy solution that woudlnt be stealing lot sof extra floor space. Something like this is what Im guessing we will be going with.
Thats a lot of green leafy stuff at constant use it looks like and for the amount of floorspace, seems great!
Am I right in that it's pretty low maintenance with just plucking what you need and keeping roots trimmed? (in addition to the hydro food light etc). can just keep growing for a long while?
 
It's been almost two weeks since I updated here. We are still harvesting lettuce and it's growing back. At this point we just pick wherever it looks like needs trimming. I checked the roots a couple of days ago and they're not ready for trimming yet. I also swapped out the res from a 3g bucket to a 24x17x15 bin that holds 20+ gallons full. I was adding 2-4l per day and got tired of mixing and adding it, and the res got a little out of whack. The larger res should make it easier to maintain. I filled it with 10g yesterday and so far so good.

The tomato on the left (Beefsteak) is growing great and starting to flower. The one on the right doesn't look like she's going to make it. She'll get swapped out soon. And of course, a mother (Linda II) is in there right now, she really needs to be trimmed.

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AutoNautPsychoFlower said:
We've been thinking of a system just like this over here. Especially if we move up a little further into Vermont. Love salads and want an easy solution that woudlnt be stealing lot sof extra floor space. Something like this is what Im guessing we will be going with.
Thats a lot of green leafy stuff at constant use it looks like and for the amount of floorspace, seems great!
Am I right in that it's pretty low maintenance with just plucking what you need and keeping roots trimmed? (in addition to the hydro food light etc). can just keep growing for a long while?
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With the larger res it really is low maintenance. We've been harvesting every couple of days, just picking the larger leaves from the outside. As far as how long it'll keep growing, stay tuned and we'll find out together ;)
 
LKABudMan said:
It's been almost two weeks since I updated here. We are still harvesting lettuce and it's growing back. At this point we just pick wherever it looks like needs trimming. I checked the roots a couple of days ago and they're not ready for trimming yet. I also swapped out the res from a 3g bucket to a 24x17x15 bin that holds 20+ gallons full. I was adding 2-4l per day and got tired of mixing and adding it, and the res got a little out of whack. The larger res should make it easier to maintain. I filled it with 10g yesterday and so far so good.

The tomato on the left (Beefsteak) is growing great and starting to flower. The one on the right doesn't look like she's going to make it. She'll get swapped out soon. And of course, a mother (Linda II) is in there right now, she really needs to be trimmed.

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Im showing these pics to the partner, going to love seeing this set up lol. The beafsteaker is going to be so cool to watch!
LKABudMan said:
With the larger res it really is low maintenance. We've been harvesting every couple of days, just picking the larger leaves from the outside. As far as how long it'll keep growing, stay tuned and we'll find out together ;)
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Perfect! It was looking like it was super easy and friendly. Large leaf plucking hydro salad bar is exactly what Im wanting to happen. Ill be staying tuned now :D
 
10/26/22 - Day 66 from seed, Day 58 (W8D2) in system
Strains - 6 heirloom varieties of lettuce (Prizehead, Bibb, Buttercrunch, Iceburg, Parris Island Romaine, Red Oakleaf ) + kale
Grow space - 24x48x60 tent in basement
Medium - Hydro sponges in Vivosun wall-mounted hydroponic grow kit (36 sites)
Nutrients - Mega Crop @ 2.5g/G (~650ppm/5.8pH) + Hydroguard
Light - 250w LED @ 70%
Extraction - 4" extraction fan
8" corner fan + Tower oscillating fan
Water - Carbon-filtered well water (100ppm/8.0pH)

I haven't had much time to update this journal lately. Since I switched the res over to a bigger tote (with a water sensor in the tent), all I had to do is add 5G of nutes every week (5g water, 20g MC, 10ml Hydroguard, 1.5ml pH down). The system worked perfectly. We kept harvesting the lettuce from the outside and it kept growing, and growing quickly. We've had salads, lettuce for sandwiches, wraps, and burgers for 6 weeks.
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After about 6 weeks the Bibb lettuce started growing stalks, then started flowering. There were some dead leaves on some of the stalks where partial leaves were harvested. The kale had gotton out of control, mostly because it's too bitter to eat in a salad. It probably would have been worse if the tomato plant hadn't taken over that half of the tent.
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Then, on 10/17 the top row started leaking. I was lucky that it leaked mostly into Linda II and the tomato pot, and it was only leaking a little. We even found it before the water sensor went off. So I shut off the pump and the next day I harvested the whole top row. Then I pulled out the mat of roots from the bottom of the tube.
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I tried turning the pump back on after that, but it was still clogged. I pulled out the second row and the roots were even thicker than the first. I could barely pull them out through the hole. After that the system drained through the last two rows.

We're still eating off of the bottom two rows while we wait for the new seeds to be ready for the system. We ended up harvesting the kale all at once, and it was fantastic fried up with some bacon fat and vinegar ;) My takeaway is that each row needs to be replaced after about 6 weeks. I'll keep a date on each row and make sure they're rotated regularly.

There is no way we're going back to grocery store lettuce. We love the flavor and texture of this lettuce, along with the variety. Since there's no reason to wash this lettuce and we pick it fresh, it takes very little dressing to dress it.
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Here is the tent today. As you can see, the tomato on the right (Sammy, a Beefsteak tomato) is taking over that side of the tent. She's reached the top and is coming back down. Linda II on the right has grown back after being trimmed about a month ago. I took a couple of clones off her yesterday, but she's due for another real trim soon. And the middle tomato plant, a cherry tomato plant, has been in that big SIP pot since she sprouted. She's loving it so far.
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We're still eating lettuce for now, but these seedlings better hurry up. They got a little dry last night, I hope I didn't kill them. I'll start another tray just in case.

#VIVOSUN #LoveWhatYouGrow
 
2/28/23
Strains - 4 heirloom varieties of lettuce (Prizehead, Buttercrunch, Parris Island Romaine, Red Oakleaf)
Grow space - 24x48x60 tent in basement
Medium - Hydro sponges in Vivosun wall-mounted hydroponic grow kit (36 sites)
Nutrients - Mega Crop @ 2.5g/G (~650ppm/5.8pH) + H2O2
Light - 250w LED @ 70%
Extraction - 4" extraction fan
8" corner fan + Tower oscillating fan
Water - Carbon-filtered well water (100ppm/8.0pH)

Its been a while since I checked in here, but we're still growing lettuce. We had to bring the whole system down and clean it, it left us without anything for a few weeks.

I've switched from Hydroguard to H2O2 (peroxide). It seems the white hydro sponges are prone to algae and I'm trying to fight it. It's working well. I don't check this res as often as I should, but I'm trying to keep it at 500ppm / 5.8pH.

Tha plan is to change out a row every two weeks. The second row is up next, the roots have to be close to clogging by now. We have some new sprouts ready to go in the next week. Meanwhile, it's salad for lunch every day, and dinner sometimes.

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#Vivosun #LoveWhatYouGrow
 
LKABudMan said:
2/28/23
Strains - 4 heirloom varieties of lettuce (Prizehead, Buttercrunch, Parris Island Romaine, Red Oakleaf)
Grow space - 24x48x60 tent in basement
Medium - Hydro sponges in Vivosun wall-mounted hydroponic grow kit (36 sites)
Nutrients - Mega Crop @ 2.5g/G (~650ppm/5.8pH) + H2O2
Light - 250w LED @ 70%
Extraction - 4" extraction fan
8" corner fan + Tower oscillating fan
Water - Carbon-filtered well water (100ppm/8.0pH)

Its been a while since I checked in here, but we're still growing lettuce. We had to bring the whole system down and clean it, it left us without anything for a few weeks.

I've switched from Hydroguard to H2O2 (peroxide). It seems the white hydro sponges are prone to algae and I'm trying to fight it. It's working well. I don't check this res as often as I should, but I'm trying to keep it at 500ppm / 5.8pH.

Tha plan is to change out a row every two weeks. The second row is up next, the roots have to be close to clogging by now. We have some new sprouts ready to go in the next week. Meanwhile, it's salad for lunch every day, and dinner sometimes.

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#Vivosun #LoveWhatYouGrow
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I just love this grow so much. The whole tent makes me smile!
 
I swear this might be my favorite tent right now. I have two rows of lettuce producing all the salad we need and two more just getting started. There's a Rosemary plant in here getting bushy, and I have four MxOP clones starting from the mother Linda II. Finally, I have tomatoes starting for the summer and a lot more on the way (8 varieties total) with peppers right behind. I'll take Linda II out of this tent soon and start re-arranging to make more room for veggies. Spring is here and I can't wait to start the veggie garden!

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Is it any wonder it's become my favorite place for a morning latte and joint :)
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#Vivosun #LoveWhatYouGrow
 
AutoNautPsychoFlower said:
I cant believe this thread isn't more populated. You must've known I was about to come and beg an update lol. :circle-of-love:
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Its a weed forum and this is an off topic thread, and I don't post much here. I had some recent pictures, though, and I know you love this tent almost as much as I do ;)
 
LKABudMan said:
Its a weed forum and this is an off topic thread, and I don't post much here. I had some recent pictures, though, and I know you love this tent almost as much as I do ;)
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Yeah but still! Salad tents... its the future!
This thread really helped with showing my wife all the things we can do with good indoor good grow set up! Yeah I heart the hell out of this tent lol:green_heart::green_heart::green_heart:

Thanks again!
 
The salad tent is out of control! I've had to run down to answer the water alarm a couple of times this week. I ended up pulling the heads nearest the drain and turned it back on. It's working for now, but I really need to start some more for the top and bottom row. Instead, I'm starting tomatoes and other veg. I have seeds on my heat mat for my next grow, so it may be a week or two before I have new lettuce sprouts. If you go this route, don't forget the water alarm ;)
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LKABudMan said:
The salad tent is out of control! I've had to run down to answer the water alarm a couple of times this week. I ended up pulling the heads nearest the drain and turned it back on. It's working for now, but I really need to start some more for the top and bottom row. Instead, I'm starting tomatoes and other veg. I have seeds on my heat mat for my next grow, so it may be a week or two before I have new lettuce sprouts. If you go this route, don't forget the water alarm ;)
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I want to eat here.
 
Here's what it looks like when you get busy with tomatoes and seedlings and neglect your lettuce. It also gets tougher and bitter. I really need to start some new lettuce soon.
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#Vivosun #LoveWhatYouGrow
 
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