The 1 gallon pots are #1 "standard" or "heavy" size. There is a #1 "Lite" or "short" that is about 0.5 inch shorter. They are not really "1 gallon", but 2.7 quarts. Your Kord 5.5 inch square pots are probably aprox 1.3 quarts. http://www.procalpots.com/pressure_formed_nursery_containers.html The 2 gallon pots are #2; but #2 from various companies seem to differ in size. Those from "Listo" are sometimes sold at Home Depot, and are really 1.5 gallons. Listo #2 seem to be perfect size for larger lettuce cultivars (eg., "Jerico"). My photograph of Integrata Red, posted in the "Gallery" section of this forum, was grown in a red-colored Listo #2. Pro-Cal #1 seems perfect for some of my smallest lettuces, but I suspect that I can't pack enough fish emulsion to really feed medium-sized cultivars well. If I add too much fertilizer, I would think that microbial growth would remove too much oxygen from the soil. Something inbetween #1 and #2 would be perfect for medium-sized lettuce cultivars. I suspect that your 5.5 inch square pots may not pack enough nutrients for most lettuce. Malawi would do well; I suspect that cultivars like Tom Thumb and Little Gem would be happy. I picked up most of my pots from the recycle bins at Nurserys.

I've sold 'Salad Bowls' with great success at market. I use a fiber pot, 8" deep & about a foot across. We put a fat chive plant in the center (they're usually flowering when they go to market) surrounded by greens & a few violas for color & as edible flowers. We charge $12-$18.00. This is a great thread! There are such good ideas. We have a hard time w/ the state health dept. here on bagging greens for market. They are convinced that all bagged greens are assumed (by the consumer)to be washed in a commercail kitchen and ready to eat. Even a giant "wash and enjoy" label won't satisfy them. So....we can't pre-bag. What they want is to have the greens in a large, open container that customers bag themselves. That way, the customer kows that they should be washed at home. (you can see this really gets me going). NOW, there are hundreds of hands going into that open container, bagging salad, but not seen as a health issue!! I've taken to putting out a box of latex gloves - it strikes me as so unsanitary. Not to mention , how hard it is to keep greens looking good under those conditions. We have a very high UV load here - even if it's cool, they'll go down quickly, even under a canopy. Thanks for the advice & information!

I'm not so crazy about the winter hot house baby salad mixes. No flavor, just pretty. Seems the dressing is the carrier of flavor. Baby arugula at least has some 'meat' to it like some spinach varieties. I do like the idea of fig, proscuitto, parm. And a toasted nut. Not sure the rest of your menu but that would compliment just about anything. I make a ginger/sesame dressing for salad but it does not go well with some main courses following. As an app away from the table an hour before sitting is fine. Like a spring roll... A sit down salad i think should be considerate of the following meal. I've been making a warm salad of escarole, shallot, leek, celeriac, golden beet slivers...and just a bit of fresh lemon. Then anything i have in the crisper and pepitas or toasted pecans. It has been hit since before Thanksgiving. (when i added shredded brussels). Sometimes quick broiled slices of goat cheese. -pressed into some seasoned olive oil panko, seasoned side up...I have a bag of dried dates that i need to use. Might do well softened for a warm dressing with a chopped slice of bacon or procuitto pan seared with a shallot. I always have olives and feta... Boston lettuce is a nice winter salad cup or torn. Come cold February-March i often put Boston on my list. Nice and buttery. It seems to like, and stand up, to a semi-warm dressing. Just my experience years past when i loved and over-did the sesame/ginger dressing...now used often with a nut/sesame chicken crust or Asian dumplings...or a miso seared beef soup/broth. DH is chopping right now for a warm escarole salad and a French green lentil salad to top it...the main meal is a brothy tomato based soup with fridge crisper drawer 'kitchen sink' soup. Freezer finds like corn and roasted tomatoes from the garden.

purslanegarden - I had the specs on my lights when I bought them but don't recall them now - I know they are sufficient to grow a variety of plants (I bought the setup from a place that sells cannabis supplies) - and as I said I do grow many indoors under grow lights - my lettuce are the only ones that suffer. I didn't move the lettuce from germination to now - maybe that;s the problem. They were probably 6 inches from the lights at germination. LoneJack - thanks for the info! I figured out after a couple of people mentioned Johnny's seeds what it was - I hadn't heard of them before - I am new to growing from seed. They are pricy - i will definitely buy from them once I am done with my current seed stock. I would like to buy onion starts from them though!