How to Grow Salanova Red Butter
Lactuca sativa 'Salanova Red Butter'
Salanova Red Butter is a compact, buttery lettuce variety prized for its uniform size and sweet flavor. Gardeners grow it to enjoy fresh greens early in the season or as an extended harvest crop due to its bolt resistance.
📷 Wikimedia CommonsStarting Salanova Red Butter: indoors or direct sow?
🏠 Start indoors 4 weeks before your last spring frost, then move the seedlings outside.
While direct sowing is common, seedlings can be started indoors and moved outdoors after the danger of hard frost has passed.
Soil, care & harvest
Prepare loose soil with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0. As a cool-season crop, sow seeds directly outdoors 2-6 weeks before your last spring frost date. Press seeds lightly into the soil at a depth of about 1/4 inch to ensure good contact. Germination typically occurs within 5 to 8 days under these conditions.
Space plants 6 to 8 inches apart to allow proper air circulation and head formation. Provide consistent moisture, aiming for roughly one inch of water per week. Apply a light mulch around the base to retain soil moisture and suppress weeds, but avoid shading the leaves too early in growth.
Watch for aphids, thrips, leafminers, slugs, downy mildew, mosaic virus, and bacterial leaf spot. Prevent issues by ensuring good airflow, watering at the soil level, and inspecting plants regularly. Harvest outer leaves or whole heads when they reach maturity in 50 to 55 days from sowing.
When to Plant Salanova Red Butter
Planting windows vary by USDA hardiness zone. Look up yours by ZIP code.
| Zone | Start Indoors | Direct Sow | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| Zone 1 | — | June – July | July – September |
| Zone 2 | — | May – July | July – September |
| Zone 3 | — | May – June | June – October |
| Zone 4 | — | April – June | June – October |
| Zone 5 | — | April – May | June – November |
| Zone 6 | — | April – May | May – November |
| Zone 7 | — | March – May | May – November |
| Zone 8 | — | March – April | April – December |
| Zone 9 | — | February – March | March – December |
| Zone 10 | — | January – March | March – December |
| Zone 11 | — | January – February | February – December |
| Zone 12 | — | January – February | February – December |
| Zone 13 | — | January – February | February – December |
Companion Plants for Salanova Red Butter
✓ Good companions
Their deep taproot doesn't compete with shallow lettuce roots, and provides soil aeration
Repels aphids and other soft-bodied insects that damage lettuce
Attracts beneficial insects like ladybugs and parasitic wasps that control lettuce pests
Natural fungicide properties help prevent downy mildew and other fungal diseases
Repel nematodes and aphids while attracting beneficial insects
Act as trap crop for aphids and cucumber beetles, drawing pests away from lettuce
Quick-growing companion that helps break up soil and can be harvested before lettuce needs space
Similar growing requirements and harvest times, efficient use of garden space
✗ Keep away from
Heavy feeder that competes for nutrients and creates too much shade for lettuce
Strong allelopathic effects inhibit growth of most garden plants including lettuce
Allelopathic compounds in roots inhibit lettuce germination and growth
Nutrition Facts
Per 100g serving (USDA FoodData Central)
