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carol6ma_7ari

Growing lettuce in a box? Plastic cover at first?

carol6ma_7ari
12 years ago

In order to grow lettuce in my urban garden near the commuter rail line, I made a bottomless box (i.e., 4 pieces of 1"x8" set on their long edges and screwed together to make a rectangle about 18"x30") and set it on my raised bed garden of older soil, then filled it with new topsoil and manure - I don't want to risk eating lettuce grown in diesel-infused soil - and then planted mesclun seeds in the box's soil.

My question is: since it's above the garden's soil level, should I keep it from drying out by covering the box with plastic on sunny days, until the seeds germinate? I already made a chicken-wire cover to keep the cats out. The plastic over the box might help germination by retaining the box's moisture for the needed 10-14 days. Or might it make the box too hot?

I'll also ask this on the vegetables forum.

Comments (5)

  • carol6ma_7ari
    Original Author
    12 years ago

    Never mind, NewEnglanders - I got an veg. forum answer from a gardener in PA who runs a large farm stand. He says, watch out for too much heat from sun through plastic. So I'll cover the lettuce box with plywood until the seeds germinate, then leave it uncovered and make sure I water it often.

  • diggerdee zone 6 CT
    12 years ago

    I was thinking the same thing - the plastic might create too much heat. At the very least I would vent it somehow.

    Good luck. Nothing like fresh lettuce from the garden!
    Dee

  • pixie_lou
    12 years ago

    On a related note, I planted spinach seeds in my garden back in November. Yesterday I picked my first crop of spinach for fresh eating!

  • mmqchdygg
    12 years ago

    wow...no kidding...spinach planted in fall?! Who knew! Thanks for the tip!

  • pixie_lou
    12 years ago

    Yeah - I thought it was pretty interesting when I read the "tip" last Fall. And I figured it was worth the investment in a package of seeds to experiment!

    I planted the seeds right after Halloween, and then added a fresh layer of compost to the raised bed. It seems like I only got 50% germination of the seeds. But then - this was a pretty long hard winter. Next fall, I'll probably plant spinach in most of my raised beds. We love spinach. Anything we won't eat fresh, I'll freeze for use all year long. And I really like the idea of getting 2 crops out of 1 raised bed. Kinda like doubling your production!