"gunner" wrote in
:
"Mark" wrote in message
...
I live in the Pacific Northwest and the next few months we
won't be able to harvest lettuce in the garden. Being we
have
a grow light system for seeding in Feb to April, I thought
we'd try to use this system for growing salad greens now.
Does anybody have suggestions on which salad greens will
grow
best (to maturity) under grow lights? We're a little unsure
of
which to grow - we've started lettuce under the lights
early
in the year but have always planted them outside as
seedlings.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Gratefully,
Mark and Patricia
Graham WA here @ the foot hills of Mt. Rainier.
The short answer: you would have no problems growing
lettuces with
"grow" lights. I grow Arugula, Bibb, Red and Green leaf in
winter as
well as keep my culinary herbs alive for year round cooking.
Your
Province( BC?) leads the way in this kind of thing.
The more detailed answers would require more info. Without
specifics
on your lights. setup, etc it is hard to give you
specifics. Do you
have Florescent, MH, or HPS light(s)? and what in wattage?
What
distance is the light source from the plant, do you have
supplemental
light( i.e. outside light, other ambient light)? How do
you grow
them? soil? Hydro?
What we use today for measurement is lumens, and bigger is
still
better until you can learn to fine tune for your
requirements.
use these loose figures for approx. planning
200W is good for a 2x2' area
250 3x3'
400W 4x4'
600W 6x6'
1000W 8x8
Obviously, Florescents are a bit different planning than
HIDs but can
be just as attractive especially if using the newer T5s.
CFLs are coming up in usage as are LEDs
I posted this site here on R.G.E a few days back for just
such info:
http://www.nationalgardenwholesale.c...downloads.aspx
Just remember there are alternatives to the
"Garden/Organic/Feel Good
" catalog prices.
Thanks so much for your answer. We have a smaller teired
system using
florescent lights. I'm thinking 200 to 300 watts.
No other
ambient light and will be using soil.
The varieties you suggested will be tried first
and will let you know
how things work out.
Thanks again for your help.