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For those who like lettuce!

Hi,

This year I've had so much lettuce to eat I'm in danger of turning
into a rabbit.  Just had cheese and lettuce sandwiches for lunch and
my wife is threatening to make another salad later :)

This is why:

I live in the South of the UK and have a small conservatory attached
to the back of the house which I use as a greenhouse.  I've taken to
growing lettuce in growbags.  Growbags are very popular in the UK but
in case they aren't where you live they consist of a bag about 3 ft.
long,  1 ft wide and about 4 inches deep.

Hereabouts we can buy packets of mixed lettuce leaves containing
about 6 different varieties.  What I do is to tie two loops of
string around the growbags and with a sharp knife slit around the
edges and remove the plastic top.  The two loops of string divide
the bag into thirds and hold it together when the top is removed.  I
add about 6 pints of water to the bag to make sure that it is really
moist and then sprinkle about 75% of the lettuce seeds on the top.
I water the seeds with a mister and keep the top moist until the
lettuces have germinated and growing well.

Start cutting the lettuce leaves when they are about 4 inches tall,
do this carefully with a pair of small scissors so as not to pull any
of the plants out of the growing medium.  The lettuces keep growing
to provide more leaves.  Keep well watered,  water especially well
after cutting.

I made the mistake this year of starting 3 bags at about 14 day
intervals.  Each bag will provide at least 4 cuts of lettuce leaves
if adequately watered.  Because the seed mix contains different
varieties each cut gives a different mix of leaves,  also a few seeds
that fail to germinate the first time around grow subsequently.

So far my wife and I have had 3 cuts from the first bag, 2 from the
second and the third is gaining on us fast,  plus the first bag is
threatening to overtake us again.  Each bag is about 3 sqft in size,
and 3 bags at about 9 sqft are as much as we can eat and we are
trying hard!  This is a very easy way to grow lettuce.

Best wishes

Bugs Bunny

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