How to grow a juicy salad on the windowsill of your apartment?

In winter, getting fresh herbs is quite difficult. But some plants can be grown independently on a windowsill. For example, salad. It contains a variety of vitamins and minerals, as well as organic acids. It will enrich any diet, it is recommended to include it in the diet menu. The plant is used both boiled and stewed, and raw.

Growing features

It is worth starting preparation for growing lettuce by choosing a variety. Some varieties that grow well in the open field do not germinate on the windowsill. They are very demanding on the temperature regime and soil composition. At home, you should give preference to early ripe leafy salad. He is unpretentious, he quickly has leaves suitable for food. But it is better to refuse head varieties, with a high probability the heads of cabbage will not tie up.

Watercress is also popular. It is very easy to grow it, including on the windowsill. Any soil will do, and the pots can even be placed on shaded windows. This plant should be chosen by beginners.

Containers with salad should be placed in a well-lit place, but not in direct sunlight. It must be remembered that the daylight hours for a plant should be at least 12 hours. In winter, use a fluorescent lamp suspended about 50 cm above the pots. Just do not forget to turn it off at night, round-the-clock light will not be beneficial.

The plant tolerates coolness well, so in the autumn-spring period it should be placed on the balcony. In the summer you will have to take care of creating a shadow. In too hot weather and when the soil is dry, lettuce grows poorly. It has a peduncle too early, and the leaves lose their value: they become bitter and tough.

Preparing for landing

When growing a plant from seeds, you need to choose the right container. Pots that are too small will not work as the soil dries out very quickly. Lettuce grows well only in moist soil. For the same reason, it is better to choose plastic rather than ceramic containers, since the clay walls will draw out moisture. The depth of the pot should be at least 20 cm. If it was previously used for other plantings, then it must be washed with soapy water.

Salad is characterized by exactingness to the soil. It should be light enough, but not dry too quickly. The best option is store mixes that have all the necessary qualities. But you can make a suitable soil at home. To do this, mix in equal parts ordinary soil, rotted manure, compost soil and peat. Also, we must not forget about feeding. To enrich the soil with nutrients, sand and wood ash are added to it by a kilogram per bucket, as well as a large spoonful of nitrophosphate and urea. All components must be thoroughly mixed, and then filled with prepared containers.

Advice

There is a way to grow lettuce without soil. It is replaced by foam rubber. It is placed in a high tray, a few paper towels are laid on top and watered. Then the seeds are poured. It is important to keep the system moist.

Special attention must be paid to drainage. The salad does not like dry soil, but with an excess of moisture, its root collar and lower leaves may begin to rot. It is worth using expanded clay, broken brick or gravel, or even better - synthetic winterizer or silicone. These substances absorb excess water, and then gradually evaporate it. This increases the humidity in the air.

Cultivation of culture on the windowsill usually occurs in batches. To ensure that fresh herbs are always present on the table, several boxes are prepared. Lettuce seeds are placed in them with an interval of two weeks. During home harvesting, the plants are uprooted. After that, the soil is loosened and re-sown. This does not apply to watercress: it is able to grow new leaves after fertilizing with mineral fertilizers.

How to plant

Growing begins with sowing. To ensure the disinfection of seeds, it is recommended to pickle them in a weak solution of potassium permanganate. The soil in the box needs to be slightly moistened and several shallow grooves should be made. The distance between them should be about 15 cm. The seeds should not be placed too tightly in them. Then cover with earth and crush a little. If you need to speed up the emergence of seedlings, then it is worth making a greenhouse. To do this, sticks or wire arcs are stuck along the edges of the container, and a plastic wrap is placed over them. Sticks or other objects will increase the air space so that the soil and sprouts that appear will not rot. After that, the containers are placed in a dark, cool place and moistened with a spray bottle every two days.

In a few days, the first shoots will appear on your windowsill. Now the film needs to be removed, and the pots should be placed under the lamp or on the windowsill. If the seedlings grow too densely, then they need to be thinned out. The removed seedlings can be transplanted around the edges of the tomato and cucumber seedlings, if available. The salad will act as a sealant. Loosening the earth in the first weeks is not recommended. The plant has a weak root system, there is a high risk of damage.

Salad care

Growing lettuce includes mandatory watering. The plant is hygrophilous, so this procedure should be given special attention. Seedlings need to be sprayed daily. They need to be watered every two to three days. It is convenient to use a watering can with a long and thin spout. It is very important not to overmoisten the soil, then the plant will simply start to rot.

The most suitable temperature for lettuce growing on the windowsill is from 16 to 20 degrees. The culture also tolerates lower temperatures well. In early spring, it can be quite successfully grown from seed on a balcony at 8-10 degrees. But too high temperature and dry air in the apartment can damage the plant. To avoid this, it is recommended to frequently ventilate the room and spray the sprouts.

Lettuce grows fast enough, so top dressing does not hurt. This is especially true if the cultivation takes place on the windowsill. Complex fertilizers are best suited. But you can do without chemicals, since the use of a mullein is allowed. It is dissolved in water (in a ratio of 1 to 10) and the plantings are watered every week.

After the harvest is harvested, the leaves are stored upright in boxes or stacked in baskets in one layer. It is recommended to place containers in a dark place where the temperature is maintained at about 2 degrees.

Growing salad at home is not that difficult. If you follow simple recommendations, you will be able to create your own vegetable garden on the windowsill. The main thing is to maintain the optimal temperature, take care of the lighting and water on time. Such a useful supplement to the diet is especially valuable in winter, when there is a particular lack of vitamins.