Fastest cycle
Why lettuce?
Lettuce is a staple that never goes out of season and matures in as little as three weeks. That is the shortest path from planting to invoice in the whole catalogue.
The case for it
Four reasons this crop pays for the tower.
Harvest in as little as 3–4 weeks
The fastest cycle in the system means the most turns per year on the same footprint.
A gallon of water per pound
Against 20–30 gallons per pound in soil farming. In a water-priced region, that is the entire business case.
Romaine, butterhead, iceberg, leaf
Tune the nutrient mix per variety and sell into different markets from the same tower bank.
Foodservice buys it every week
Restaurants, meal-prep companies and grocers need volume on a schedule — exactly what staggered towers deliver.
Who buys it
Your buyers are already looking for this.
Restaurants, fast-casual chains, meal-prep companies, grocery and specialty greens.
What they all have in common is that they need it every week — not in a glut in August and not at all in February. Consistent supply is the thing you are actually selling them, and a controlled system is how you promise it with a straight face.
Work out what lettuce does on your footprint.
Bring your square footage and the price your market pays. A grower consult turns those two numbers into a cycle plan and a payback estimate.