Feb 26, 2016 = Day 0. Plants started from seed (Botanical Interests). Seeds sowed in 1.5-inch rockwool cube in 2-inch net-pot. Moistened with dilute fertilizer solution: 1.2 mL Dyna-Gro Liquid GROW 7-9-5, 0.8 mL pH Down per gallon of tap water. N-P-K (in ppm): 22-12-13. pH = 6.0.
Feb 29 = Day 3. Plant germinated, placed directly under a fluorescent light (2 ft. T8 bulb, 17W, 6500k) for 16 hours per day.
Mar 8 = Day 11. Installed plant into 0.5-gallon glass jar. Hydroponic solution composed of 0.5 gal (1.9 L) tap water, 1 g MasterBlend 4-18-38, 1 g calcium nitrate, 0.5 g magnesium sulfate, 0.1 mL Dyna-Gro Pro-TeKt, 0.5 mL pH Down. N-P-K (in ppm): 103-41-168. pH = 6.0. Moved plant to indoor grow room, where plant receives 9 hours LED grow light plus 3 hours sunlight per day.
Apr 7 = Day 41. Began harvesting lower leaves.
Apr 13 = Day 47. Harvested all leaves. Plant had grown very tall, and was having difficulty standing upright. Final statistics: 7 cups (0.44 gal) of fluid used, pH of fluid = 7.0.
Bucket Hydroponics 
Grew around twenty of these in half gallon mason jars under a 4′ x 2′ grow lamp, and after three weeks, I was consuming a salad a day to keep up. My plants did not grow as high as yours, but after 40 days, the leaves started getting very green, but still pleasant tasting. Along with Dinosaur Kale, my favorite plants to grow for food. Also used Masterblend 4-18-38 (2 grams), Calcium Nitrate (2 grams) and Magnesium Sulfate (1 gram) per gallon. Thanks for your guidance.
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Wow 20 jars, that is awesome! Glad you are having success with your growing. I would stagger the plants, starting just a few per week, then you will always have plants that are at their peak for eating. I am glad to hear that the 2-2-1 ratio of MasterBlend-CaNo3-MgSO4 is working for you. I got that recipe from Bobby Smith (aka MHPgardener), and I have found it works very well.
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im trying to grow this, its been 3 weeks and the seedlings are still very small and no roots out the bottom. i dont have access to masterblend, calcium nitrate, or anything like it in regards to NPK. i only have GH maxigrow and epson salts. i dont know if im able to even do hydroponics becuase i cant get the good stuff. im considering giving up and doing stuff in potting mix. also only have 1 2ft T5HO 24W light with refactor. cant hang lights or afford anymore.
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Sorry to hear you’re not having success. The GH Maxigro should be fine to use, it has a N-P-K-Ca-Mg-S = 10-5-14-6-2-3. Plus it has micronutrients (Fe and Mn) as well. If you are using Maxigro, you won’t need to use Epsom Salt, since the MaxiGro already contains Mg and S. I would use 5 grams (about 1 teaspoon) per gallon of water. This will give you a final N-P-K-Ca-Mg-S (in ppm) = 132-66-185-79-26-40, which is similar to what I use on my adult plants. You can dilute this about 1:4 to use it on your seedlings, since they usually like lower concentrations of nutrients. Also make sure that your final pH of your solutions is in the 5.5-6.5 range. If you are outside of this pH range, the plants may not grow well.
As far as your lighting goes, this is probably not the problem, since too little light usually results in seedlings that grow very tall and leggy, and then they fall over. Since your plants are just staying small, I suspect there’s a problem with the nutrient concentrations or the pH. I hope this is helpful. Good luck!
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oh wow, thank you very much! i actually started a personal blog to follow my journey in this rewarding hobby. do you mind if i share what you just told me? i hope you can see some of my progress, ive read your blog a few times over and have been using it as a point of reference. again, thank you very much, and i hope you have a wonderful day!
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Hi, I like your reviews here. I bought the lettuce formula for masterblend. But I just want to ask why almost all the picture of your lettuce looks leggy? Is that the correct growth of the lettuce? Which is considered a good lettuce, leggy or compact. Can you provide a picture of a compact lettuce?
Thanks
Regards
Charles
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Hi Charles, you are right, a lot of the lettuce grown indoors in buckets has a different growth pattern than lettuce grown in the ground. Whenever I have grown lettuce outside in the ground, the lettuce is more compact, I assume due to the higher levels of wind and direct sunlight. However, when I grow lettuce indoors, with much weaker light and wind, the lettuce grows much more tall and leggy. I haven’t found a good way around this yet, maybe higher intensity light and stronger fans? Unfortunately, when you grow indoors, there are limits to what you can do.
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Hey Matt, have you tried doing hydroponics outside? With and without greenhouse is there any difference? Do you know what is the correct hours of sunlight for all kinds of lettuces does it need to be direct or only bright light with clouds? The correct water, air temp and humidity? Also just want to ask hope you have a picture of a compact lettuce in a hydroponics.
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Hi Charles, yes I have grown lettuce both indoors and outdoors. I generally prefer growing it indoors, because outside, there are too many bugs and the lettuce gets dirty. Lettuce doesn’t like hot temperatures (> 80 deg F) or a lot of direct sunlight. I usually grow it under a shade cloth outside, since it wilts in the direct sunlight if it is too hot. It will usually bounce back if it does wilt, but if this happens a lot, it can get bitter tasting. Experiment, and see what works well in your climate. Lettuce is a great plant for doing experiments, it is quick growing. As far as pictures, what you see on the website is what I have. There are a lot of lettuce pictures on there. All of the lettuce varieties I have grown are not very compact.
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If I use uv treated plastic is it ok? Will it not wilt? I tried putting my lettuce in direct sunlight every morning when I woke up I can see 1 lettuce wilts, but the others are not. Also notice that the wilted lettuce’s growing media is dry. But others are not. I think that could be the cause.
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