Ideas for Preppers: How to Grow Leaf Lettuce in Your Home

There are some plants that grow easily in your home, and among them is lettuce, in particular leaf lettuce. Lettuce is a little more difficult to grow inside because it requires a whopping 14-16 hours of sunlight per day, so it’s recommended that you find a heat lamp or well windowed area with which to compensate. You’re also going to need a medium-sized pot.

Make sure you fill the pot until there’s about one inch between the top of the soil and the top of the pot; you’re going to need this extra space for more soil later. Before planting the seeds, you’ll have to pinch each one until you have several pinched, and then sprinkle the seeds over the soil in the pot, making sure you sprinkle them evenly.

Next, cover the sprinkled seeds with about a quarter inch of soil and spray or moisten the soil with water until it’s moist (not wet). You’ll need to continue misting (not watering) your plants until they’re fully germinated — up to two weeks. During this process, you’ll also need to water the plants about once every other day, or if the soil dries, depending on how hot your growing area is.

When the seedlings have two sets of leaves, you can start thinning out the weakest plants — replant or eat these — so that the remaining plants are about three to four inches apart. From here, it’s entirely up to you on how big you want your lettuce plants to get before eating, but it’s recommended you eat from the outside first so that your inner plants can grow larger.