How to start growing salad leaves
What are salad leaves, well in the old days a salad was just a mix of lettuce leaves? Now there is a wide range of leaves included in a bag of mixed salad.
You might find mustard, pak choi, rocket, beetroot, lettuce, cress even chard.
This is salad leaves for beginners, a quick search online will bring up a wide range of types and ways to grow them
I will just encourage you to start with a full proof method, you can then develop your own theories.
You can grow salad leaves, we will choose a very easy method.
Choose the type you like to eat, no point in growing rocket if you hate it.
Have a look in the vegetable seed displays or look online.
Sow your own
The secret is warmth keep the seeds at 20 degrees (room temperature) and they will germinate quickly.
Sow the seed in small pots 9-11cm, to plant out later, fill the pot with compost and water, then sow the seeds thinly on the surface, aim for 10 to 15 seeds per pot. Cover with polythene, a bag is okay.
Germinating
This will take about 5-7 days at 20 degrees after they germinate you need to keep the seedlings growing, they need warmth (room temperature) and sunlight. A sunny window sill is okay for the first 4 weeks, later they will need to move outside as they grow. Your house is usually too warm, producing very soft wobbly leaves, moving them outside will improve the quality and colour of the leaves.
If you don’t have anywhere to grow them miss out the seed sowing and just buy some plants later.
Buying salad leaf plants
You will find them easily in the spring, usually with the vegetable packs. There may be a limited choice so have a look at sowing your own.
Planting your Salad leaves.
Salad leaves can be used in troughs and patio pots, they are not fussy about compost but think about adding some slow release fertiliser to the compost. Salad leaves are supposed to be slightly crowded, you will pick them before they are fully developed, taking small leaves regularly.
Salad leaves can be cut 2 or 3 times before they run out of steam or start flowering. To get a regular supply of leaves you will need to sow small batches 4 or 5 weeks apart.
Looking after your salad leaves.
Choose a sunny sheltered spot, they need the sun and will grow faster when kept warm.
They will grow better in a greenhouse or grow house.
Early in the year if the weather is cold or frosty bring them into the house at night.
When are they ready?
You can eat them when they are tiny often called micro salads.
Usually, you wait until the leaves are 6-8cm high, then use a plucking action rather than cutting.
If you only take the outer leaves the plant can keep on growing.
Watering
Keep them watered, with feed, this might be every day in the summer. If in doubt, water them you can’t do any harm. A self-watering system is a good idea.
Feeding your salad leaves
When they are 4-5cm high feed them at every watering they are hungry. We add some slow release fertiliser to the compost at planting this makes sure there is always some feed available.
A specialist tomato feed contains more potassium and will improve the taste.
Problems.
Slugs do like salad leaves, growing in pots and moving them about can confuse them.
If the young seedling stems wilt and fall over, you may have sown the seeds too thickly, possibly the compost is too wet or the temperature is too high or cold.
Don’t worry just sow them again but change the number of seeds and see what happens. Don’t reuse the old pots as they will have the root disease on them. If you are reusing pots, washing in water with bleach should sterilise them.
When do I start
This depends on the final position of your salad leaves
If you have a cold (unheated) greenhouse or grow house.
Sow March
Plant early April to mid-May, have a bit of fleece handy for cold nights or bring them into the house for the night.
Picking should start towards the beginning of June.
If you only have a patio or garden.
You need to wait for the warm weather (If you are happy to share your house with the young plants you can start earlier)
Sow April
Plant late May if the weather is good.
Picking should start late June early July.
To keep a continuous supply just keep sowing every 4-5 weeks, your last sowing should be late August.
Why would you bother growing your own salad leaves, they are so cheap in the supermarket.
Your homegrown salad leaves will grow naturally in the sun developing a rich colour and extra sweetness.
Go on give them a try.
Checklist
- A packet of seeds or plants available from March to June
- Something to grow them in, pots, troughs, hanging baskets almost anything.
- Compost, try to get one with some John Innes or soil included it will add some weight and help with watering.
- Slow-release fertiliser not essential but it will make feeding the plant easier
- Buy some fertiliser when you see it on offer and a watering can to apply the feed.
