It is so nice to crunch a green leaf of lettuce when there is snow outside the window, and the body has missed fresh vegetables and greens. Growing lettuce in the winter is a process that brings one pleasure: it does not require large expenses, relaxes and, most importantly, gives the result in the form of fresh, tasty, tender greens to the table.
How to do this, will be discussed further.
Useful properties of lettuce
Lettuce has a low calorie - 12-16 kcal per 100 g of product. This is a great product for diet food. Salad contains vitamins, minerals (potassium, calcium, magnesium, sodium, phosphorus, iron, manganese, copper), amino acids and fatty acids.
B vitamins are essential for cellular metabolism and stable functioning of the nervous system. Carotenoids help maintain visual acuity and freshness of the skin. Potassium and sodium salts regulate metabolism and improve blood composition, iron prevents the development of anemia.
Letuk has a great benefit to the body during the period of beriberi, the elderly, children, diabetics. It is useful with problems with the intestines, metabolic disorders and depletion of the body, because it has a tonic effect. It is useful to eat lettuce during colds: it has an expectorant effect and helps to cope with coughing, and also increases the protective functions of the body. 
Lettuce juice - an aid in gastritis and gastric ulcers. Lettuce - a source of folic acid necessary for women's health. Infusion of lettuce seeds is used to improve lactation. For nervous disorders, increased pressure, coughing, take the infusion of lettuce leaves on boiling water.
Face mask of green lettuce leaves relieves redness and inflammation of the skin. Lettuce juice is rubbed into the scalp to strengthen the hair.
Did you know? In one of the editions of the London magazine "Notes and Queries" devoted to the English language and literature in 1853, you can find an interesting superstitious saying: "A lot of lettuce in the garden will stop the fertility of the young wife" (Richmond, Surrey).
Capacity for growing lettuce
For growing lettuce at home, it is advisable to choose pots or boxes with a depth of at least 10-12 cm. The tank should not be narrow so that the soil does not dry out too quickly. A good option would be square boxes. 
For the cultivation of a large rosette of lettuce, you need to pick up a larger capacity, a depth of at least 25 cm. For roosting, you will need a pot 35 cm deep.
If you chose a wooden box for lettuce to grow it on the windowsill, cover the outer walls with plastic to keep it moist. At the bottom of the tank we preliminarily place a drainage layer of expanded clay in 2-3 cm.
An alternative to the container may be a package, but this method is not too decorative and is more suitable for a balcony. In a tight package you need to make holes at the bottom for draining excess liquid. The package needs to be filled with 3/4 of a moistened soil and placed on a stand (plate, tray, tray).
Did you know? In Japan, there are about 200 enterprises that grow lettuce on shelves in closed rooms. At "green factories" they create multi-level installations (up to 10 floors with shelves) and use artificial fluorescent and LED lighting. Companies are even in the middle of the city, for example, in the basement. A small installation can be placed in the back room of the restaurant.
Soil selection
As soon as you decide to grow lettuce at home, you need to take care of the substrate. For home mini-garden can be used as a ready-made mixture purchased, and cooked with his own hands. 
Variants of homemade mixture:
- 1 part of garden land, 1 part of compost, 1 part of peat. Add 1 kg of sand, 1 kg of wood ash, 1 tbsp. l nitrophosphate, 1 tsp. urea on a bucket of the substrate.
- 2 parts of humus, 2 parts of deciduous land, 2 parts of peat, 1 part of sod land and 1 part of sand.
- 1 part of sod land, 2 parts of humus, 3-5% sand.
- 1 part of river sand, 1 part of peat, 2 parts of humus soil.
- 1 part of biohumus, 2 parts of coconut fiber.
Did you know? In ancient Greece, the cult of the god Adonis was widespread - a shepherd and a hunter, personified the winter wilt and spring revival of nature. One of the elements of the cult was the creation by women of the "gardens of Adonis" - clay pots with cereals and lettuce grown in them.
Sowing lettuce seeds
Lettuce is perfect for a window sill, you should pay attention to the early (early) varieties: Lollo Rossa, Lollo Bionda, Snowflake, Golden Ball, Odessa, Maisky.
Before sowing to improve the germination of seeds can be germinated. Put them on a wet paper napkin and cover the second, make sure that the napkins do not dry. Within a few days the seeds will hatch.
In wet soil we make shallow grooves (1-1.5 cm) at a distance of 15 cm, we do not sow the seeds very densely, sprinkle them with moist soil and compact the soil.
Important! In order to always have fresh lettuce in the house, organize continuous cultivation from seeds: sow at 2 weeks intervals in different boxes.
Conditions for germinating seeds
After sowing, the seeds need to be watered with warm water. Next, turn the container with seedlings into a mini teplichka: we stretch the film over the pot, using sticks or arcs of wire to increase the air space. So shoots appear faster. The next week before the emergence of shoots container should be in a cool, dark place. Every few days the soil should be moistened with a spray. 
Further salad care: secrets to success
When the first sprouts of lettuce appear, the film needs to be removed and thinned, and further cultivation and maintenance are very simple.
Lighting. After the first shoots appear, a pot or a box with lettuce is placed on the windowsill, but not under direct sunlight. In the spring and in the autumn the salad feels rather well on a ventilated loggia. In the future, the plants will need to be protected from overheating. In winter, the salad need to organize additional lighting. To do this, take a fluorescent lamp and hang it over the seedlings at a height of half a meter. Note that the daylight hours for lettuce lasts 12-14 hours.
Watering and spraying. Watering indoor salad is done every 1-2 days. For this purpose, suitable watering can with a thin long nose. It will not be superfluous to spray seedlings from the spray gun in the first few weeks, when the root system is actively developing.
Feeding. Fertilization and fertilizing is an optional measure if the land in the pot with the salad is fertile. If ordinary street soil was used, it is advisable to feed the lettuce: 2 weeks after the sprout appears, add a teaspoon of the Agrolife organic fertilizer to the top layer of soil. 
Important! It is not recommended to loosen the soil in the container in order not to injure the surface root system of the lettuce.
Green cleaning
In the first place in the food, you can use plants remaining after weeding thickened crops. The first full crop of lettuce on the windowsill can be obtained a month after sowing. Leaf lettuce cuts the largest bottom sheets so that the socket can develop further. You can cut the leaves for several weeks, then the salad turns out to be an arrow and becomes unfit for food. In its place you need to land a new one.
Did you know? In English, the method of gradual cutting of leaves from vegetable crops is called "cut-and-come-again" (cut and come again). It refers not only to lettuce, but also to cabbage, spinach, arugula.Growing lettuce at home will be a great solution for those who want to keep fresh greens on hand at all times and not to think about shopping. In the care of the lettuce is no difficulty, and the cultivation of a mini-garden on the windowsill can be your hobby.
