Q&A for How to Grow Hydroponic Lettuce

You can grow a head of lettuce in 45-50 days, although some variations can be grown in around 30 days.

Yes, absolutely. Spinach is one of the plants most often grown using a hydroponic system.

Yes, keep the stem from your head of lettuce and place in a shallow dish with water.

Typically, it can take 3-4 weeks to grow a head of lettuce hydroponically. However, the growing conditions can affect the growth rate.

If you decide to grow your own hydroponic lettuce, you can ensure that your lettuce crop is free of pesticides: simply avoid using any pesticides in your hydroponic lettuce setup. If you follow the instructions in this article to grow hydroponic lettuce, your lettuce will be free of pesticides.

What is the temperature of your growing area during the day vs, at night? What is your water temperature? If it is hot during the day, the leaves will wilt. You may need to consider a method to control the temperature during the day.

The hydroponic solution is a nutrient solution that contains all the nurtrients your plants need (the growing medium provides nothing but structure for the plants). The solution you're using should have specific instructions on the quantity.

If you had success the first way you grew your lettuce, go back to using those nutrients. If you don't remember which nutrients you were successful with, it's always a safer bet to purchase a nutrient kit from a gardening store. Make sure that the kit is made specifically with the type of lettuce you're growing. If you want to attempt to save your dying crop, switch out the water and nutrient combination that you currently have and replace it with the new one.

Never use any chemical mixture without any instructions. The ratios are provided by the nutrient providers, so follow them specifically. I don't recommend doing this yourself.

I find an EC of 1.2 in cooler weather (under 75 degrees F) to be effective. The summer temperatures where I live are regularly above 90F, so I lower my EC gradually to 0.9 for the summer.

Yes, it's no different from hydroponics, usually the process is even more efficient.