Growing clean vegetables on the terrace is a popular choice for many urban families, in which lettuce is loved because of its short harvest time. However, many housewives encounter the situation that the plants are stunted, difficult to grow, and the leaves are small or withered despite taking a lot of care.
One of the basic mistakes is lack of experience in treating substrates as well as controlling the temperature on the rooftop when growing this vegetable.
Inappropriate planting substrate selection
Many housewives have a habit of using heavy soil or old, untreated soil to grow lettuce. The characteristic of lettuce is a weak cluster root system, requiring extremely loose soil and good drainage.
If the soil is compacted, it is very easy for the tree roots to not absorb all nutrients. Lack of organic components such as coconut fiber and rice husk ash makes the soil quickly decolored, causing the tree to only develop to a certain extent.
Plants grown in overheated environments
The terrace is a place with quite strong sunlight and high temperature from the concrete floor. Lettuce is inherently cool, so if planted directly under too harsh sunlight for 6 hours each day, the leaves will burn to the edges, wilt and have a bitter taste.
One of the common mistakes is placing the pot close to the concrete floor without a high shelf or net. The heat directly transmitted into the pot will increase the temperature of the root area, making it difficult for lettuce to grow and grow well.
Poor irrigation, lack of moisture
Lettuce needs constant moisture but is very afraid of waterlogging, accordingly, the habit of watering vigorously, especially in the midday sun or leaving the soil dry and white before watering, will be harmful to the plant.
Conversely, watering too much in the evening can also easily cause fungal diseases causing leaf rot. The standard procedure is to spray lightly every early morning and cool afternoon to maintain stable humidity. Limit water deficiency causing lettuce to wither and lose its natural crispness and sweetness.
Too dense planting density
To save space, many housewives sow seeds or plant plants too close to each other. When vegetable plants grow, the leaves overlap, hindering photosynthesis and poor air circulation.
Lard plants lacking space will find it difficult to find light to grow, leading to the condition that plants grow overgrown, weak stems and thin leaves. Maintain a minimum planting distance of 15cm between plants will help lettuce easily curl its canopy wide, green and achieve high yields.
