why does the above pic look really different from this picture googled from images?

I grew mine under flor lights 3-4 inches from tips, air temps are at around 24-27c, pH 5.5-6, EC 1.4. these are about 14days from transplant or around 27 days from sowing. water temps around 24c

FWIW, mine look about the same as yours. It may be that there is a better type of seed to use in hydroponics than what you are using.

You mean there are seeds specifically used for hydroponics? From what i read, i had always rhought that any seed is usable in hydroponics even to get optimum results...

I'm just guessing here but I suspect the ones in the first picture aren't getting as much light as the one in the second. those first ones look leggy. Well at least as leggy as lettuces can get.

@grizzman

I don't know about the lights. I just use 3 14w daylight flor lights 2feet each. screwed them on a plyboard with aluminum tape and hung them about 3 inches above the lettuce.

Well I don't normally grow indoors with light, but 42W of light doesn't seem like enough. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you can eat the lettuce, I just think it doesn't look like traditional butterhead because of the light.

No problem grizzman. I needed someone to point me in the right direction. What lighting requirements do you recommend based on your experience?

When I grew lettuce indoors under light, they were leggy too. Tasted fine, but butt ugly. When I grow indoors (in the winter) I just use a south facing window. Of course that is for NC or south. If you live further north, I'm not sure you'd get enough light.
I know that isn't much help so I would recommend tasting them. If they taste good don't worry about what they look like.

when i harvested the above pic, they tasted fine, a hint of bitterness like romaine. however I was kind of looking forward to the crunchiness factor, which I didn't find. Maybe my lights are just not enough in terms of intensity?