Cultivation Of Organic Curly Lettuce

Makintau - There are two large groups of lettuce cultivation (Lactuca Sativa) that develop in Indonesia. First, the lettuce of the cord-shaped leaves is round loosely, the leaves are green fluffy. Secondly, the cord lettuce (heading lettuce) is round or oblong and the cord is dense.

Of the two types above that are most widely cultivated is the type of leaf lettuce, the shape of the leaves wavy tends to wrinkle, or popularly known as curly lettuce. Tolerant curly lettuce is grown in tropical and hot regions though. Types of curly lettuce can even thrive in low and hot areas such as Jakarta.

Basically the optimal temperature for the cultivation of lettuce kriting ranges from 15-25 °C with an altitude of 900 meters to 1,200 meters above sea level. The preferred types of soil of kriting lettuce are dusty clays, sandy clays, and soils that still contain humus. Nonetheless, curly lettuce is still tolerant to nutrient-poor soil as long as it is given adequate irrigation and organic fertilizer.

Seed Selection And Seeding

Lettuce is propagated by seeds. Seeds or seeds of lettuce are obtained by growing lettuce plants until flowering and fruiting. After old, the seeds are taken. When seeds are purchased from stores, varieties popular today include penn great lakes, imperial and new york. The need for lettuce seeds per one hectare of land is 250 grams. To get optimal results, curly lettuce seeds should be sowed first before planting on a large expanse of land.

There are various types of seeding media for the cultivation of lettuce, including in polybags, banana leaves, tray systems, printed soil or on the bed. On this occasion, what we will describe is the planting media on the bed.

Prepare a bed with a width of one meter and a height of about 15 cm, the length of the bed is adjusted to the needs. The position of the bed should be in an open place and away from animal disturbances. Mix manure, soil and husk charcoal in a ratio of 1:1:1. The manure used must be completely mature to avoid the growth of microorganisms that are not expected.

The use of manure to enrich nutrients and nutrients. Husk charcoal is needed to fertilize the soil so that the removal of seedlings does not damage the roots of the plant. If the soil is too acidic, also give agricultural lime or dolomite to taste. The ideal degree of acidity for lettuce cultivation is a pH of 5 to 6.8.

Water the seeding medium with water to give moisture to the seeds to be sown. Try not to get wet because it can rot plants. Spread the lettuce seeds evenly over the bed.

The solid spread of seeds is 100 grams per 10 square meters of seedling beds. When seeding is done in the dry season, it is worth giving mulch in the form of grass, straw or dried leaves on it. This is useful to reduce evaporation due to the scorching sun.

Make shade over the bed. The point is, in the rainy season to protect newly grown seedlings from the overflow of rainwater directly. In the dry season, to shade the bibt from the sun is too hot. The bed cover can use paranets, plastic sacks or clear plastic.

Try to make the cover that can be closed open, so that in the morning and evening the lid can be opened so that it gets maximum irradiation. And, during the day it can be closed to protect against sunburn.

Care at this stage of seeding is regular watering, weed weeding and pest and disease surveillance. In the cultivation of organic curly lettuce is not allowed to spray synthetic pesticides.

What if there are pests can be expelled by closing the seeding, if attacked by disease can be given additional manure and spraying vegetable pesticides if needed. Curly lettuce seedlings can be moved after 4-5 strands of leave or 3-4 weeks old since the seeds are stocked.

Tillage And Planting Seedlings

Tillage for the cultivation of curly lettuce depends on the type, structure and texture of the soil. If the soil to be used is very hard, do the rake first, after that only the eviction is carried out by being hoeed. Then the shape of the bed with a width of 1 meter high 15 cm and a length of approximately 10 meters or depending on the condition of the land.

In order for the beds to remain dry, especially in wetlands such as former rice fields, the soil for the beds is elevated by 20 cm, the diiri and right beds are made alleys for drainage channels. The width of the bed is not allowed to be too wide to facilitate maintenance.

Cultivation of curly lettuce requires a neutral acidity environment with an ideal pH of 5-6.8. If the condition of acidic soil should be done the process of neutralization first with lime. Whereas if the soil is too alkaline neutralizing with sulfur or gypsum.

For example, to neutralize soils that have a pH of 5.5 required chalk as much as 0.1 kg per square meter so that the degree of acidity rises to a pH of 6.5. Conversely, to lower the pH of the soil can be given sulfur or gypsum as much as 0.6 kg per square meter.

To enrich soil humus mixed with mature manure or compost. The recommended amount of manure for chicken manure is 20 tons per hectare. If we use compost, the recommended amount of compost is as much as 2 kg per square meter.

The provision of organic fertilizers aims to grow the land and increase the activity of microorganisms in the soil. After the soil is mixed with manure or compost, let stand for 2 days, then puree the soil again with grafting.

After the land is ready to move the curly lettuce seedlings from the seeding place. In moving plants, you should lift with soil that supports the root zone. Planting is done by way of ditugal or hollowed out by hand only. Large and in the planting hole is adjusted to the rooting of the curly lettuce seedlings to be moved. Set the planting distance by 10 x 15 cm.

Lettuce Cultivation Treatment

Treatments carried out in the cultivation of lettuce kriting include watering, fertilizing and weeding. Watering is carried out according to the existing weather. If there is no rain do 2 waterings in one day every morning and evening. Watering can be done during the day but with enough water intensity to avoid sudden wilting in plants.

After the planted seedlings are 2 weeks old, if the plant is less fertile characterized by a faded green color, give an additional manure of 2 tons per hectare. Manure used should contain high nitrogen elements such as chicken manure. At the age of the plant reaches 20 days from spraying organic liquid fertilizer at a dose of 3 liters per hectare.

Although the harvest cycle is fast, weeding is still necessary because this kriting lettuce plant has shallow roots so its competitiveness is very low compared to disrupting plants.

For that there needs to be regular weeding by uprooting the pester plant. In the cultivation of curly lettuce is usually required at least one weed weeding during the cultivation period.

How to weed weeds sedkit differently in the dry and rainy seasons. In the dry season weeds are removed or cut, then left at ground level. The use is in addition to green fertilizer and form mulch to reduce evaporation.

So that water for watering can be saved. In the rainy season, weeds should be removed and the beds should be clean of forage. This is to avoid the growth of herbs and diseases around lettuce plants due to high humidity.

Pest And Disease Control

Pests and diseases that commonly attack the cultivation of curly lettuce are as follows:

Jangel (Bradybaena similaris ferussac), its shape is like a snail measuring 2 cm. This pest affects plants at all ages. It is usual to hide at the base of the inner leaves. The attack of this pest makes the leaves hollow.
Tangek (Parmalion pupilaris humb), its shape is similar to that of a jangel but does not have a snail. As a result of the attack is the same as making a hole in the leaves. This pest attacks more in the dry season than the rainy season.
Soft rot, the cause of the bacteria Erwinia Carotovora. The disease affects parts of the leaves. The attack begins from the edges of the leaves, the color of the leaves becomes brown then withers. In addition to being able to attack plants that are still planted, this disease can also attack lettuce that is ready to be transported to the market.
Leaf base rot, the cause of which is Felicularia Filamentosa. The disease attacks the base of the leaves, attacks are common before harvest.

In the cultivation of organic curly lettuce, it is not allowed to spray pests and diseases with synthetic pesticides. Pest and disease control is carried out by paying attention to fertilization, garden cleanliness, crop rotation and if forced to spray with vegetable pesticides.

Regular watering and proper fertilizing proved effective in controlling pests. However, the most effective pest control is to cultivate healthy plants, regulate environmental hygiene such as maintaining irrigation and drainage and ensuring adequacy of nustrisi for plants, especially for the immune system of the plant itself such as potassium elements. Potassium elements can be obtained by adding bamboo leaf ingredients at the time of composting.

Lettuce Cultivation Harvest

Cultivation of curly lettuce can be harvested 20-30 days after the seedlings are planted. So, when calculated from seeding to harvesting, it takes approximately 40-60 days. The productivity of curly lettuce plants can reach 15-20 tons per hectare.

Harvesting is carried out by plucking the plant until it is burly-roots. After harvesting, the root part of the lettuce is washed and the damaged leaves are removed. Group curly lettuce leaves by size. Post-harvest work must be done quickly and immediately because curly lettuce plants cannot withstand heat and evaporation.

If transportation to the market has a long time lag, store the vegetable in a damp place close to the water or routinely splashed with water.