Did you know that you can grow indoor lettuce that will produce double the yield a lot quicker than regular lettuce grown outdoors would?
That’s right – a recent discovery has shown us that crops of lettuce grown indoors will produce 50% more leaves up to 300% faster when compared to ones grown outdoors.
This is amazing news because lettuce is usually fragile and vulnerable to various pests and diseases that would otherwise completely ruin it. So, if you still haven’t managed to grow lettuce successfully, try growing it indoors instead!
According to data gathered from 121 studies examining lettuce growth in 29 different artificial indoor habitats, lettuce grown indoors is significantly better than lettuce that is exposed to pests and changing weather conditions.
They also examined how factors such as lettuce variety, light sources, nutrient media, and building kinds affected the quality and rate of growth of the indoor plants.
Controlled indoor conditions, on average, produced twice as much lettuce as crops grown outdoors – 3.68 kilograms of lettuce were produced per square meter in indoor farms compared to 1.88 kilograms on average in outdoor farms.
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What they also examined is the growth rate: it was established that lettuce grown indoors grows 50% faster during the summer and, surprisingly, 300% faster during the winter season.
In addition, researchers also compared different varieties and established which one is more productive – Iceberg lettuce came out on top, delivering an average of 7.45 kilos per square meter!
They assume that the presence of natural light in greenhouse systems may have contributed to the greenhouse systems producing the most lettuce overall, as well as growing lettuce vertically.
When growing veggies indoors, you don’t have to worry about pesticides ruining your crops, or if the wind is going to tear your plants apart. But you still have to take into consideration the amount of energy you’ll need for heating, artificial lighting, and cooling off your plants.
Still, if you have a greenhouse filled with natural lighting, you won’t have to deal with any of these issues!
The study demonstrated that, if produced with renewable energy and when accounting for the avoided carbon losses of land expansion from conventional farms, indoor lettuce farming would actually result in less than a tenth of the carbon emissions of conventional field-grown lettuce!