lettuce and salad leaves in pots/containers

[Riz]

I will sow them on the weekend inshallah, and i will take pics every step of the way , from germination onwards, so please watch this space

[Riz]

here is a pic of the lettuce i grew in a terracotta pot last season, really crunchy, fresh with no issues with slugs or snails, really pleased with the results, 6 weeks from germination to harvest, this way you can sow tiny amounts every other week so you will have fresh lettuce and salad leaves all they way till late autumn :)


http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/sald.jpg

[Riz]

salad and lettuce seeds are really in-expensive, you can get a pack with over 1000 seeds for a pound/dollar or so.... so if you going to be buying them, get a few different varieties and mix it up a little, they grow really well in shallow pots or containers, so its all good :)

[Riz]

i will be sowing the following in a trough and pots

1, lettuce
2, lettuce red salad bowl
3, leaf salad mixed

i bought some multi - purpose compost ( cheapest kind)

fill the trough and leave 4 inches from the top and do the same with the pots, if you get clumpy compost/soil just break it up with your hands,

[Riz]

you get lots of seeds per pack so dont worry if you think you have sowed too many, you can always pull some out once they gave germinated into small seedlings.....

sow the seeds in a row in the trough, make a 1 inch depression in the soil, and sow them all in, cover with 1 inch of compost/soil and water in well using a sprinkler, dont use a hose pipe because you will push the seeds further down into the soil...

pic1. mixed salad
pic2, lettuce

[Riz]

after i watered...

[Riz]

its a 3 to 4 week turn around for the mixed salad leaf, that means you only have to wait 3 weeks from germinating the seeds to harvesting your salad leafs :)

[Riz]

ill update once they have germinated.....if you live in a apartment and have a balcony you can do the same and grow them in containers or a trough :)

so NO excuses :)

[ze leetle elper]

I want to plant lettuce as well but I don't want the single leaf...last yeat I bought 4 plants (in a pack) from b&q....it was red lettuce already grown as a small plant. I put this in my ground and every week I would pick the outside leaves and it just kept growing back!! I would end up with so many leaves I had to give them away lol it just kept growing mashaallah! So gonna keep my eyes peeled out for that in the stores again!

[Riz]

i have germination in the pots and containers.. ill give you an update when my new battery charger arrives from e -bay :)

[Riz]

some pics of the lettuce seeds and salad leaves seedlings :cheerleader:

[felicity]

My lettuce seedlings are slowly growing, but I sowed the seeds in same pot, now, do I plant them in ground or is it good idea to keep them in containers?

[Riz]

just leave them in the pot, that's what i am doing, just thin them out if they are growing to close together..

some pics i taken today....

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC00917.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC00918.jpg

[ze leetle elper]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a59/zeleetleelper/garden/DSC03461.jpg

[Riz]

zee you are ahead of me, but i am catching up :)

[Riz]

got these for bnq too for 98 pence.. so i germinated them in a pot too :)

[Riz]

growing very nicely :)

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01003.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC00999.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC00991.jpg

[Riz]

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC00992.jpg

[ze leetle elper]

Had my first picking of salad yesetrday yum!! I got the cut and grow variety so I just remoe the outer leaves and it keep growing back! :D

[Riz]

my salad seeds that i germinated 3 weeks ago, are ready to be picked and eaten :)

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01184.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01188-1.jpg

[Riz]

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01189.jpg


http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01192.jpg

[ze leetle elper]

wow they look yum!! are they the cut and grow variety? or can you just harvest them once?

I've harvested mine about 5 times now mashaAllah, the leaves are getting bigger and bigger! Today I picked soem leaves, they were double the size of my hands! mashaAllah! and it tastes so good freshly picked as well!

[Riz]

i have some that you harvest once and some that cut and come again... i have noticed though some of them have bolted and are making seeds, so they have been chopped off.. i started some more salad seeds and they are growing too

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01443.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01439.jpg

i harvested some salad leaves again today


http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01456.jpg

[Riz]

the green salad leaves have bolted,, going to seed that means it will stop leaf production and concentrate all its energy on making seeds,, so i chopped them up and put them in the compost heap..

the red and green salad are still doing great and growing and i am using them to eat everyday.. i have already sowed more salad leaves in a container last week , and they are doing great too :)

can you see the seed pods developing !!!!/

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01530.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01531.jpg

[Riz]

some more salad leaves i harvested,, really fresh and crunchy :)


http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01563.jpg


http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01566.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01559.jpg

[ze leetle elper]

mashaallah your salad has done really well! I have harvested mine too many times now lol I've lost count! I've given to family as well, sometimes I have too much! alhamdullillah it is soooo tasty when its cut fresh!

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a59/zeleetleelper/garden/DSC03485.jpg

[Riz]

^ very vibrant colours too :)

my next batch is coming along really well......

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC01677.jpg

[Riz]

sowed some salad leafs today ( Californian mix) ready to pick in 4 weeks.. pics later on :)

[Riz]

these are the ones i sowed yesterday :)

[Riz]

seeds have germinated withing a few days

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC05732.jpg

[Riz]

i hate slugs and snails :down:

[Foreveryoung]

seeds have germinated withing a few days

Mashallah Riz. You sowed them on 6th and they germinated by 13th June.. :cheerleader:

[Riz]

added some slug/snail pellets to pots. sowed more pots with salad seeds today... :D

[Riz]

salad talking shape now as the weather is improving, just watered them and gave no nutrients atall..

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC05946.jpg

http://i198.photobucket.com/albums/aa300/sajid_012/DSC05945.jpg

[Riz]

i sowed seeds at two week intervals this way ill get fresh salad every month instead of lots in one go, they are doing great too :)

[Riz]

harvested the salad today,, really crunchy and fresh yummy!!!!

[Riz]

Mashallah Riz. You sowed them on 6th and they germinated by 13th June.. :cheerleader:

no, earlier than that, i just pasted up the pics on a later date :)

[Riz]

more salad leaf in a pot

[Riz]

more salad i harvested yesterday.

[Foreveryoung]

^ Superb.

All you need is to boil two of those purples potatoes, cut them in cubes and make a delicious potatoe salad. Put them in a mixing bowl, add salad leaves, ur radishes , or may be some cherry tomatoes and croutons if you have them. Add ur fav seasonings .. i would prefer a dash of virgin olive oil and oregano.

Voila. here u go. Farm fresh salad ready to be enjoyed.. no pesticides ... nothing.

Good job Riz.