Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

I'm sick of buying lettuce seedlings, and having to muck around removing the seed raising mix they come in. So I harvested thousands last year from my crop.

Is there a way of raising lettuce seedlings in aquaponics or hydroponics? I tried just sprinkling them in the beds, but none came up so I assume worms at them or the were washed too far down in the media.

What's your water temp there Ryangus? My guess is it's a bad time of year to start lettuce for your location.

You can definitely get some going but you may have to start them some place cooler and move them after they've got a decent start. Different types of lettuce do better with the hot temps so you may want to google for this info.

You should be able to setup a small propagator for these that's based on AP but in a location that's cooler if you don't want to mess with the mix. Steve built a neat blue barrel propagator that might give you some ideas but all you really need is a tray that holds water, some wicking media and a cooler location. Here's Steve's nifty blue barrel propagator - http://www.backyardaquaponics.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2283

Cheers

Try again direct seeding. But raise up the water level a bit, put a little addition on the standpipe.

It does work direct seeding.

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What about using small net-baskets, with coconut fibre..
Hurried to the surface of the media.. and the seeds in there..
Seemed to work for me.. :-)
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I direct seeded as Colum Black-Byron did (good idea) with a open lettuce not one with a solid heart. i found that the seeds just rot if they are under the water to much so i dropted the water level so it doe's not cover the seeds, just the water vapour was enough to germinate the seeds then i got a total green blanket of plants. that was in very hot weather as you would have in queensland. it seems to work with most seeds

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And one of my issues is not getting them to grow, but to develop a normal shape...
Eg.. Coz.... they grow 10ft tall and quickly go to seed
Even supposed IceBergs grow to more like a pine tree..
I first thought it was reduced light and growing up to better light, but even in the raft bed, they all "reach for the sky"..

Nutrients? ? Perhaps..!
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Mine bolt early also. Wonder why?

What are your air and water temps ?

+1

It's almost always something to do with temperature and the variety you use. Some are less prone to bolting at high temps.

Romaine type lettuce might be a good choice for warmer weather but there may be times when not much works.

Romaine (or Cos at we tend to call it down here) does fare better, but still seem to bolt a bit early.

The weather is often warm, but no idea what the water temp is (and not a lot of possibility of changing it anyway).

Two varieties that do ok for me in the hot season are Butterhead and Green Oak,but when the water temp gets up towards 30c i struggle,air temp is 33c mid afternoon in the tunnel but water temp is still 23/24c but my Grand Rapids have bolted at that so i won’t bother with then again until later this year.