Growing Salad Mix, Radishes.. etc.

[FourOaks]

Ok, my fine compatriots, Im looking for ideas/advice.


Now that I have joined a Market that sales year round, Im thinking about growing a small quantity of Baby Salad Greens and possibly Radishes. Just something to help fill up the table space, to go along with the Plants and Seedlings. I plan my first day to be March 31 or April 7, so I do have a little time but not much.


I have never been terribly succesful with Lettuce. Ive tried in raised beds, bolted. Last year I built a Hydroponic Rail system, bolted. So Im thinking that by going with "Baby Greens" then I have possibly helped reduce the potential to bolt. Any opinions on this?


Yesterday I was at Southern States and looked at a pack of premade mix. It was 14 Grams of seed for $4.49. Right on the back of the pack was the contents. So I just picked up some of the varieties that they had in individual packs. My Salad Mix will contain, Salad Bowl, Paris Islands, Oak, and Mustard.


I decided to fill up a 1020 tray with soil and sprinkle on the mix. Im attempting to grow these the same way you would Microgreens. Just a couple extra weeks involved.


Im also thinking Radishes might do well this way as well.


Anyone have any thoughts on this? Also, where I might get the salad bags?

[oakley]

Called 'bread bags'. The webstaurantstore, has them.
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/search/bread-bags.html

You might read through the 'art of growing micro greens' posting.
Curtis Stone on y-tube has 5 or so good videos just about growing
microgreens. Most valuable info I have found.

I grow all winter. Here is some radish mix in the middle, peas on the left.

[oakley]

My radish mix, buckwheat/sunflower mix, 5 pea blend, are all fast growers. Radish
about 8-10 days to harvest, peas and sunflower 12-15. All depends on temp and light.

I grow under one single 4ft LED. I can speed up growth by running the light 24/7 for a day
or two. But I usually have more than we can consume.

Salads are all S L O W growing. Mustards a bit faster, 12-15 days.

Your issue might be temps. They all like it a bit cooler, 65-70. Shade cloth might help over
70º. Outside in the garden I can grow all summer season using dense planting and a shade
frame. Dense planting keeps the leaves and soil cooler. Greenhouse growing needs shade
and good fan airflow.

I can easily harvest a bag a day, (just for home/family use). And purchasing by the pound
is so much cheaper. I pay average 7$ per pound. Market growers typically buy 5-20lb bags
to make it profitable.

Typical harvest and last nights salad....I'm guessing 20cents in seed cost buying bulk.

[Ann123]

That looks delicious and beautiful.

[FourOaks]

Oakley thanks for the input. I like the idea that Salad Greens (in my opinion) would have a much broader customer base, as opposed to Micro Greens.

Also, at my new market, there is a vendor who does nothing but Micro Greens. I dont want to step on any toes, if you know what I mean. Salad Greens are sort of more generic, in a sense.

[oakley]

Ignore my advice. I'm not a market grower...just a market consumer and see
all the mistakes. Good luck with what works for you. And I mean that sincerely.
I'll not continue....in any wasted time....

[FourOaks]

Originally Posted by oakley

Ignore my advice. I'm not a market grower...just a market consumer and see
all the mistakes. Good luck with what works for you. And I mean that sincerely.
I'll not continue....in any waisted time....

Well, I dont know how/why that went South. The info you posted was useful. And your view from being a paying customer, is invaluable.

[GoDawgs]

In the fall I grew French Breakfast radishes and a Polish cousin (and pretty much look-alike) Opolanka. They're both about 2" long with a pretty 1/2" white tip. The FB's were started Oct 17, germinated in five days and the first ones were pulled 28 days after that, if that's any help with your timing. Good for succession planting to keep them coming.

[FourOaks]

Originally Posted by GoDawgs

In the fall I grew French Breakfast radishes and a Polish cousin (and pretty much look-alike) Opolanka. They're both about 2" long with a pretty 1/2" white tip. The FB's were started Oct 17, germinated in five days and the first ones were pulled 28 days after that, if that's any help with your timing. Good for succession planting to keep them coming.

Im thinking about trying radishes in the 1801 Deep Inserts. Something just for fun. I have the seeds, I need to get them sewn. Today might be a good day.

[FourOaks]

Something else I might try growing in 1020 flats, green onions. If the first batch shows promise, then I might keep sowing them. I dont beleive that true bunching onions have any chance of bolting. I think they will do fine just about all year.

[bower]

Four Oaks, my friend grows lots of lettuce at her farm and I can tell you what you need to know about bagging baby salad greens. You have to wash and spin the greens before you bag them or they will be unmarketable. It's a bit of a process.
We seed the salad mix pretty densely in a two inch band. For your situation, choose the row that gets the most shade if possible, as in your cooler and moister spot. Lettuce needs lots of moisture or it will bolt and get tough and bitter. Possibly cut and come rows of lettuce might work better for you, as the regular cutting seems to keep them from bolting as easily as well. The better you weed it the faster it'll grow. Maybe a light coloured sheet mulch would work to minimize the weeding.
To harvest the cut and come again lettuce, cut with a knife or scissors at least 1-2 inches from the base. This allows the center leaf to remain intact and the side leaves/partly cut leaves also help it to regenerate faster.
Step two, you need a big tub of clean water. Dump your cut lettuce into that for a minute or two. Swish it around by handfuls to take off any dirt, then pile it onto a drainer tray to let most of the water run off. This process also gets rid of any slugs, aphids etc and gives you an opportunity to pick out any weeds that snuck in.
Step three, we have a big industrial size spinner at the farm but any salad spinner will do if you're trying it out on a small scale. (Another friend got stuck doing commercial lettuce with a home spinner, I hear it was extremely tedious.) You pile the lettuce in, turn the crank and let most of the water run off. The spun lettuce is then transferred to a clean tub ready to bag.
Step four: adjust mix as desired into the bags and weigh on the scale. There should be some air at the top of the bag and enough of ends to tie it shut. Hold the two edges of the bag in your hands and spin the bag around, then tie the two ends in a knot. This keeps air inside as well as moisture and allows you to 'fluff' the lettuce and keeps it from being crushed.
Pack your bags into a tub and put it in the cooler, ready for market mobile.
I have some kale and lettuce growing in about the depth of a 1020, had 3 or 4 cuts off it already but we're talking about a 2 inch harvest - itty baby greens. I have more growing in a tub twice as deep which is twice the size (took a week or more longer though) .
Baby Kale is good stuff, grows about twice the rate of lettuce too. Your mustard will probably be the fastest. Here's my 1020-depth lettuce and kale:

[bower]

I would think 1020 tray is too shallow for green onions? Okay for starting them though.

I tried to grow radishes indoors in January one year under lights - they never made a radish for three months. Guess they weren't fooled.

[FourOaks]

Bower thanks for the info. No reason to quote you, as it was all top notch.

As for the green onions... I dont know. Last year I let my seedlings get to fairly decent size, due to laziness. Im thinking they might do ok.

Maybe I will do some in trays, and a bunch in a raised bed.

[FourOaks]

And as pointed out by Bower, I need to find a shady spot. Around here, in this neck of the woods, heat and humidity get here quick.

Another and possibly better option, would be lettuce in the greenhouse in the winter. But, and its a huge but, I would probably have to provide supplemental light. Or Im assuming anyways.

From reading the FaceBook posts provided by my new market, NOBODY has winter grown lettuce. This could be an advantage.

Time to do some research.

[PotGarden]

Originally Posted by bower

I would think 1020 tray is too shallow for green onions? Okay for starting them though.

I tried to grow radishes indoors in January one year under lights - they never made a radish for three months. Guess they weren't fooled.

Maybe it was day length? I've grown them under lights before....