May 31, 2012 plantings

Today was a busy day, as in addition to making pickles, I also started three ebb and flow systems in the basement.  The top photo is Swiss Chard growing under the 90 watt red/blue/white LED, while the center photo shows Early Wonder beets, for beet greens, growing under T5 fluorescent lighting.  The system in the bottom photo contains Spotted Aleppo lettuce, which will be grown in a tent.  This 18th-century Romaine lettuce was sold by Philadelphia seedsman, Bernard McMahon, in 1804. The leaves are speckled with a bright reddish-brown variegation that is highly ornamental.

As I have not been using the tents, or six band flower series lights, while the greenhouse has been operational, I decided to try growing lettuce using six band LED in a tent.  Previously, the six band lights have only been used for plants that require high levels of light, like tomatoes and cucumbers.  This will be the first time I have used one of the large lights for lettuce.