How to Grow Lettuce Like a Pro

With the cost of fresh salads skyrocketing across the country, it’s a fantastic time to start growing your own lettuce! Growing lettuce in the UrbiPod couldn’t be simpler. We stand by our tried and tested loose leaf lettuce mix - but that’s far from all the UrbiPod can grow! The UrbiPod is perfect for growing any of your favourite greens, reds, and romaines. Read on for all our tips on how to get the best results when growing and harvesting your lettuce.

Temperature

Since the UrbiPod already solves the concerns of light, water, and food, the main thing that could still affect your lettuce growth will be temperature. Lettuce tend to prefer cool weather, around the range of 18-22°C. It’s good to keep an eye on the temperature of your indoor space, as your lettuce will become overheated at about 24°C. If the room is too hot, this could affect your lettuce’s germination, and damage its growth. Lettuce grown in high temperatures tend to have far less yield, less nutritional value, and are more bitter in taste. 

Visually, there are two ways to tell if your indoor environment is too hot to be growing lettuce in. Firstly, your lettuce may look ‘leggy’: pale, thin, and stretched out. Or, you may notice the tips of your lettuce’s leaves starting to turn brown. This is called 'tip burn'. Move your pod to a cooler location for best results. 

Time

While brown-tipped leaves are often the result of high temperatures, they may also be caused by your plant’s age. In the UrbiPod, a lettuce plant will reach its maximum maturity at about 40 days; or, just under six weeks. After this point, the lettuce will no longer produce new yield, and will start to lose its flavour. We highly recommend harvesting your lettuce before this point, while it is at its freshest and healthiest. 

How to Harvest

When to Harvest

After 20-25 days, your lettuce should be fully grown and ready to harvest! There are two ways to go about this. Firstly, you can choose to harvest all of your lettuce in one go. In this case, using your shears, cut off the entire plant just above soil level. The entire leaf is edible, so the closer to soil level that you harvest, the less you’ll waste!

If you don’t want to use the entire plant, you can also harvest leaves gradually. In this case, start by harvesting the larger leaves on the outside of the plant. Don’t cut too close to the basal growing point, though, as this will damage the growth of the remaining leaves. The rest of the leaves can then continue growing as normal until you’re ready to cut them.

Health benefits