Another historic grow

Today I began another historic grow, historic in terms of the varieties that is. These are the seedlings from yesterday's post, and it is exactly two weeks from the date the seed packages were unsealed.

I am using a red/blue 90 watt LED with a 16 hour photoperiod. The light is 19" above the plant surfaces with the intensity, measured at plant level, ranging between 1,500 and 2,000 footcandles.

The nutrient feed cycle is 15 minutes every four hours, with a TDS of 711, and a pH of 6.4. Additionally, I am dribbling CO2 into the grow tank during the lighting cycle.

Now to the historic aspect, the varieties are:

Tom Thumb (1850s) A small growing green lettuce with heads that only get 3-4" across. Very tasty! Crisphead type.

Spotted Aleppo (pre1731) An ancient variety that had been grown in Aleppo, Syria for a long time prior to being introduced into Europe in the early 1700’s. It was also grown in colonial America and was offered by Bernard McMahon in 1804 and many other North American seed companies until the 1870’s. Spotted Aleppo is a beautiful loose headed Romaine type of lettuce with many bronze speckles. Romaine type. RARE.