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Old May 25, 2018   #62
FourOaks
Tomatovillian™
 
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: NC
Posts: 511
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BigVanVader View Post
Not sure if I mentioned this before, but most Farmers trying to grow lettuce in Summer use overhead irrigation and water several times a day especially during hot weather. I also recall Curtis Stone trying to use shade cloth on his lettuce and not being successful. Ray Tyler in Tennessee has been very successful at growing salad mix during the summer and where he is located can get up to a hundred degrees. I actually have bought the irrigation to try his method, but have yet to have time to install it. Perhaps next year. I wish you the best of luck.

Vader... yep using misters here to cool the lettuce down. I think the 50% shade is just too shady. I got very leggy growth. All though I will say the Mustard Greens looked pretty good, but... the main issue, ya' know how various lettuces will grow at different rates? Well, with the shade cloth, the differences in size were exaggerated. So, other then the Mustard, the lettuces were mostly stem.


I will say though, that I am learning from this. So far this is what I have determined.


1. If shade cloth is needed due to heat, then grow 1 variety of lettuce under it. Heads will probably do better, but dense pack for cut greens will probably be ok, once the appropriate shade and water is determined.


2. If shade cloth is not needed, then grow whatever you like. But, based on what I learned previously, growing different lettuces in the same bed is problematic due to different maturity rates. So, different varieties, different beds.


Going forward, for the Summer, im going to try individual heads, be they full size or mini heads. Im also going to order some 30% shade cloth. See how that does. I might get 40% as well, to determine if there is a threshold that is tolerable.


I did sow 6 plug trays (84 count) of both Romaine and Butter Crunch this afternoon. I decided to take advantage of the shade cloth and misters that are already setup. I put the trays under the shade cloth. Ill let the misters keep them moist thru germ. Hopefully by the time they are ready to transplant, Ill have the shade cloth waiting.


These plugs will be transplanted where the Snap Peas currently are, which are about shot anyways.
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