Commercial lettuce greenhouse procurement — start from your yield target
Size a lettuce project from heads per year, then convert to weight. Indicative annual marketable output runs roughly 15–30 kg/m² in a basic tunnel with soil or simple beds, 30–60 kg/m² in a medium-tech NFT or floating-raft system and 60–100 kg/m² in a high-tech greenhouse with climate control and, where used, supplementary lighting. Lettuce runs many short cycles, so handling, hygiene and post-harvest cooling drive the design as much as the structure does.
Lettuce is a logistics crop. With 8–14 cycles a year, the difference between a profitable and an unprofitable project is usually seeding, transplanting, harvest handling and cooling — not the structure price per m².
Set the output target, convert it into area, plant density and water demand with the planner, then tender the structure, hydroponic system, fertigation, handling line and cold chain as one defined scope.
Start from your lettuce yield target
Enter the annual tonnage you need and the technology level you can realistically operate. The planner derives an indicative area, plant population and water demand, and carries the whole configuration into the supplier-neutral RFQ Builder.
Yield band 30–60 kg/m²/year
Mid-band area plus 12% circulation and technical space
16–30 plants/m² planning density
10–25 litres per kg of produce
Hydroponic NFT channels or deep-water-culture rafts with recirculating fertigation, motorised ventilation, cooling and a climate computer.
- Structure with gutter height suited to hydroponic benches or ponds
- NFT channel or raft pond system with slope, flow rate and spacing defined
- Recirculating fertigation with EC/pH control, oxygenation and UV disinfection
- Motorised ventilation, shading and a cooling strategy for the design day
- Nursery or propagation area with seeding and germination scope
- Harvest handling, cooling and packing line sized to peak daily output
Indicative planning figures only — no yield, cost or performance guarantee. Your agronomist and the qualified suppliers you select confirm the final design.
Lettuce yield planning bands by technology level
Planning bands drawn from widely published commercial protected-cultivation practice, used to size a tender. They are not a guarantee — genetics, climate, water quality, agronomy and management decide the outcome. Cycle pattern: Short cycles of roughly 4–6 weeks in the production area; typically 8–14 cycles per year depending on climate, season and technology level.
| Technology level | Indicative annual yield | What it typically includes |
|---|---|---|
| Basic tunnel / soil or simple beds | 15–30 kg/m²/year | Naturally ventilated structure with soil or bed production and drip or micro-sprinkler irrigation. Lowest CAPEX, most weather-dependent cycle count. |
| Medium-tech NFT or floating raft | 30–60 kg/m²/year | Hydroponic NFT channels or deep-water-culture rafts with recirculating fertigation, motorised ventilation, cooling and a climate computer. |
| High-tech climate-controlled hydroponics | 60–100 kg/m²/year | Full climate control with heating, screens, humidity management, moving-gutter or mobile-raft logistics and, where the market justifies it, supplementary LED lighting for year-round cycles. |
Agronomy and product fixed before any supplier is contacted
- Product format: whole head, baby leaf, living lettuce with root, or ready-to-eat mix
- Target head weight and the number of heads per week the market requires
- System choice: soil, NFT, deep-water culture or moving gutter
- Cycle length by season and the resulting number of cycles per year
- Propagation: in-house nursery or bought-in plugs
- Food-safety standard the buyer requires, which drives hygiene and washing scope
Site data every bidder must receive
- Climate data, including summer heat that limits cycles and causes tipburn
- Water analysis and the flow required for a recirculating system
- Electrical capacity for pumps, cooling, handling line and any lighting
- Distance to market and delivery frequency, which sizes cold storage
- Local code loads and food-safety or building requirements
What the lettuce RFQ must cover
Every bidder should answer the same lines. When one supplier prices a structure and another prices a production system, the comparison is meaningless — this is the scope that makes proposals comparable.
Structure and hydroponic system
- Span, gutter height and loads including pond or bench loads
- NFT channel or raft specification: material, spacing, slope, flow rate per channel
- Moving-gutter or mobile-raft automation scope, if specified
- Covering with light transmission and diffusion stated
Climate and quality control
- Effective ventilation area after screen derating
- Cooling capacity at the design condition and the achievable inside delta
- Humidity and air-movement strategy, which drives tipburn risk
- Heating for winter cycles and screen configuration
Water, nutrients and post-harvest
- Water treatment, buffer storage and recirculation loop volume
- Fertigation with EC/pH, oxygenation, nutrient-solution cooling and UV disinfection
- Propagation area scope: seeder, germination chamber, plug handling
- Harvest handling, washing, cooling, packing and cold storage at peak daily output
Commercial and handover
- Transport, offloading and installation scope
- Commissioning at design conditions and operator training on the hydroponic system
- Warranty per component group including pumps, UV and handling equipment
- Spare parts and in-country service response, critical with weekly harvest commitments
Where lettuce quotations most often go wrong
- Output compared per cycle against another bidder's annual figure
- Cycle count assumed at summer values, ignoring heat-limited weeks
- Propagation and transplanting scope excluded although they set the cycle rhythm
- Nutrient-solution cooling and oxygenation omitted, causing root problems in hot months
- Post-harvest cooling and washing line undersized for peak daily harvest
Financing note
SeedMatchGroup is not a bank, lender, credit provider or financial adviser, and quotes no rates, approvals or commitments. Where a qualified commercial project requires funding, it may be introduced to independent third-party financing providers, who control all eligibility, pricing and decisions.
Lettuce procurement questions buyers ask
SeedMatchGroup is an independent, supplier-neutral procurement platform. It does not manufacture, engineer, install or guarantee agronomic performance. Yield, water and plant-density figures on this page are planning bands used to size a tender — the qualified independent suppliers, agronomists and contractors you select confirm the final design and any performance commitment.
The definition checklist that makes proposals comparable in the first place.
Section-by-section specification structure for a professional tender.
What actually moves CAPEX per m² — country, crop, loads, climate strategy, automation.
CAPEX, energy, water, labour, replacement and cost per kg over the asset life.
Normalise price per m² and flag missing scope across up to three quotations.
Crop, climate, area, growing system and automation defined step by step.
Normalise ventilation, cooling, humidity and water/energy OPEX before price.
One structured scope sent to qualified suppliers, so every proposal is comparable.