Things you will need:
Free: recycled egg cartons, lids removed, white polystyrene box (4 egg cartons to 1 box)
Buy or Make: Seed Raising Mix (see recipes below)
Buy or get from a seed saving friend: Lettuce Seeds (Mine were from the Diggers Club)
Tools: A watering can with a fine head (small holes for watering seedlings) and a spray bottle (for keeping the seeds wet)
Step 1
Collect egg cartons.
Visit your local green grocer and ask if you could have some polystyrene boxes to recycle.
Buy Lettuce seeds.
Step2
Buy some Seed Raising Mix, or make your own:
Warning: when making these mixes either wear a dust mask, or settle the dust by wetting it down, otherwise it can cause respiratory problems.
Seed raising mix 1 (from the ABC Gardening Australia web site)
Mix one part perlite to one part of the coir fibre (also called peat moss)
Seed raising mix 2: Nev Sweeney’s recipe (Nev is on a UK site but he is dinky di)
2 parts by volume Compost,
2 parts by volume horticultural coir or peat moss,
1 part by volume sharp sand,
1 part by volume perlite
Fill the egg cartons with seed raising mix.
Step 3
Water the cartons using a watering can with a fine “seedling” head on it.
Wait for all the water to soak in.
Step 4
Carefully place one seed in each egg cup. Sprinkle a fine layer of seed raising mix over the seeds.
Step 5
Spray with a fine spray of water using a special pump spray.
Place in a bright spot out of the direct sun (morning sun ok). Make sure you check them every daay and give them a spray. If it is hot weather, spray them twice a day.
Last Step: wait
Seedlings 10 days later.
Giving them away!
Full grown lettuce ready for harvest:
