How to Grow Lettuce / Herbs Indoors without Grow Lights 

Thanks! Yep, there is no telling what you bring inside until they start crawling around. Haha I have tried growing the plants in front of the sunny windows before (not directly on the windowsill) and they had to stretch for light and got "leggy" - not healthy plants at all - so this worked great!

You'd be amazed how well many plants can grow on your windowsill in 16oz cups. Look at any kind of lettuce, as well as arugula, radish (you can eat the greens), green onion, hot peppers, kale, all herbs, and most especially: beans! You will likely need to fertilize, so they have enough nutrients in that small area, but there's absolutely no reason you couldn't see real harvests of all of these things a mere month or two after planting seed.

Bless you for this idea. my family's drill went missing with a semi recent move, and I wondered what I could substitute a drill with. I had planned to use a sewing pin to poke holes, but your idea seems better.

Thank you so much! You are lucky to have many sunny windows. I hope you all can enjoy fresh salads this winter. Brrrrrrrrrrr

I know right!!!

Thank you!

I hope yo show it soon. I have been tweaking it during the cold months to make it as inexpensive as possible so most people can do it. I just do not have much time to dedicate to it is spring, summer, and fall.

lol

You're most welcome

Hey there, I look forward to seeing what you are doing. :) Yes, I have been using that little system for almost 3 years now (winters only) and tweaking it all along the way. I am trying to make it very inexpensive so everyone can do it.

Thanks Elyse!

Very true! The real thing is always the best!

@@RainbowGardens And free! LOL My setup only costs $15mo but that's still $15 more a month than the nuclear reactor at the center of our solar system costs to operate...

Welcome!

Thanks so much!

If I only have a little lettuce, then I tend to harvest from the outside in. Usually, I have a lot growing in different stages, so I harvest the baby plants, leaving some to mature.

No, about every 7 to 10 days. I recommend the Miracle Organics water soluble fertilizer.

@@RainbowGardens thank you for getting back with me. My lettuce just sprouted. No true leaves yet.

My windows allow about 8 hours of sunlight a day. However, many windows block ultraviolet rays, so be careful that your windows will allow it.

Thank you!

Do you live in the northern hemisphere?

yes Winnipeg Manitoba Canada. Thank you for responding so fast

I am afraid you will not receive enough light from a NE facing window. However, since I made this video, I reviewed a great light bulb for growing greens. You can check it out here: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-QUqwug-xRtk.html

got a compass found out the windows are more East a little south facing, I think I wanna give this a try thankful for all your help

Great, give it a try and if there is not enough light, those light bulbs are only 15 watt so they do not use much electricity and LED's last a very long time.

Great question! All plants require a certain amount of space in order to grow well (space requirements depend on the plant). If I leave all the sprouts to grow crowded, they will continue to grow but at a slower rate and smaller size. This is okay if you want baby leaves, however I have found (particularly when growing indoors), it is best to give them space to mature to large leaves.

@@RainbowGardens Thanks for replying! Is it ok, then, to just put one seed in the cup and see if it sprouts?

@@hsgoose333 Sure! If they are fresh seeds, you may have good results. If the seeds are a few years old, they may not sprout. That is why I plant a couple, to ensure germination.

@@RainbowGardens Awesome, thanks so much! Love your channel!

My friend lived in a North facing appartment that got little to no sunlight. He grew mushrooms instead.

Cranking All Day no usually that is a sign you grew them too long I believe but I remember google having info on that

Lone Surviver Well it like all the lettuce you see online seems to be like starting at ground level. My seedlings are 1cm tall, which doesn't look quite right. I'm not sure how people are even getting seedlings that grow so low

It is called bolting and the cause is not enough light. Do a search

@@richlaue It's called leggy ness! 😩

@@mioangel1227 or spindly

Why not reuse cups forever??? Hummm??

It stresses them when transplanted and, therefore,, attracts more disease and pests. Leaving the young roots intact and undisturbed grows a better plant.

Because it makes things grow beautifully when you cannot grow outdoors in the soil where natures provides many of the needed nutrients which cannot be otherwise obtained growing in a controlled environment.

I almost subscribed until you recommended miracle grow, That is poison! Very sad that you are advising others with horrible techniques.

@@bsflower13 you can always use organic fertilizer

@@eyegardentx You should only be recommending organic fertilizer, I already use it :) Not lining Monsanto's pocket book.

For all those with opinions: Are you eating the food she grows? No. Then mind your own business and do whatever you want to do. Do your own damn videos and shut up. I'm grateful for the knowledge. Thanks for the video! :)

The water soluble fertilizers do not provide enough nitrogen for sterilized soil. Growing like this does not provide soil building nutrients like growing outside, for instance in my organic garden where I use the Jobes. Generally speaking, an organic water soluble fertilizer will not contain more than a total of 10, N+P+K. The Jobes is 5-2-3, this does not provide near the nutrients needed when growing in sterile soil or seed starting mix (no nutrients).On the other hand, Miracle Gro is 24-8-16 and has plenty of nitrogen for a healthy leaf plant. If strictly growing organic is your goal, you can always use organic soil from outside, but do know you risk bringing in many other things with it as well, inside your living space. if you choose to do that, the organic water soluble ferilizer should be fine.

Rainbow Gardens those are percentages. Use compost or more of the organic fertilizers. Might as well buy for the grocery store if you're gonna put all those poisons in your produce. But that's just my opinion.

I use organic methods outside of my living space in my organic garden AND my square foot gardens. Humans often take vitamin supplements in order to get the nutrition they need because we cannot always get enough from the foods we eat. For example, an elderly person who has failing eye health such as age related macular degeneration benefits GREATLY from taking supplements with Lutein. The Lutein actually slows the progression of the disease. But there is no way they could consume enough greens to get what their eyes need to prevent blindness. I feel the same about plants. I will give them natural nutrition whenever possible but have absolutely no problem giving them supplements. I enjoy eating fresh picked vegetables right out of my own home, grown without pesticides, even organic pesticides. Organic pesticides are used to grow produce just as much as the synthetic pesticides. The synthetic are just a chemical copy of the organic....

If it's not organic it may have GMO's which are really affecting human health in a negative way. I am disappointed in your approach although you may need the sponsorship to keep this site going. I would find another way to get paid.

Bhazleton you wouldn't know what a GMO is if it smacked you in your simpleton face . You're no doubt one of these fools who think every plant that isn't organic is GMO.....get a brain tard.