Red Leaf Lettuce

Pests & beneficial insects

🐛 Prone to: Aphids

Aphids

Aphididae

Curled leaves, sticky honeydew and ants on patrol — usually with something already eating them.

, Cutworms

Cutworms

Noctuidae

A seedling lying beside its own stump in the morning, cut clean through at soil level.

.

Attract Hoverflies

Hoverflies

Syrphidae

The adults only drink nectar. It is the larvae that eat the aphids.

, Lacewings

Lacewings

Chrysopidae

Golden-eyed adults that mostly drink; larvae that hunt like small alligators.

, Ladybugs

Ladybugs

Coccinellidae

The one predator here where the adults hunt as hard as the larvae do.

, Parasitic wasps

Parasitic wasps

Braconidae, Ichneumonidae and relatives

Pinhead-sized, stingless, and lethal to aphids and caterpillars from the inside.

, Ground beetles

Ground beetles

Carabidae

Night-active ground hunters, taking slugs, cutworms and leatherjackets at soil level.

to keep them in check — plant InulaGreat, LovageGreat and Purple ConeflowerGreat nearby.

Growing from seed

Start Red Leaf Lettuce indoors about 4 weeks before your last frost, keeping seeds in cooler soil (around 10–18 °C). Seeds usually come up in around 7 days. Move seedlings out once the danger of frost has passed, in partial sun, spaced about 25 cm apart. Expect to harvest in roughly 55 days.

Red Leaf Lettuce seed rarely stays viable beyond 5 years — track what's still worth sowing.

Companion Planting

• 
  Wild indigo
  

  Wild indigoGreat pair

  • ❧Wild indigo fixes nitrogen in the soil that Red Leaf Lettuce feeds on
  • ❧Wild indigo roots deep while Red Leaf Lettuce feeds near the surface — no competition
  • ❧Red Leaf Lettuce acts as living mulch, keeping soil moist and weeds down around Wild indigo
• 
  Winged bean
  

  Winged beanGreat pair

  • ❧Winged bean fixes nitrogen in the soil that Red Leaf Lettuce feeds on
  • ❧Winged bean roots deep while Red Leaf Lettuce feeds near the surface — no competition
  • ❧Red Leaf Lettuce acts as living mulch, keeping soil moist and weeds down around Winged bean
• 
  Blue Sage
  

  Blue SageGreat pair

  • ❧Blue Sage attracts Hoverflies and Parasitic wasps, which prey on the Aphids that attack Red Leaf Lettuce
  • ❧Blue Sage roots deep while Red Leaf Lettuce feeds near the surface — no competition
  • ❧Red Leaf Lettuce acts as living mulch, keeping soil moist and weeds down around Blue Sage

How to grow Red Leaf Lettuce

1. Sow4 weeks before frost
2. Germinates7 days
3. Space25 cm apart
4. GrowPartial sun
5. Harvest~55 days

Water: Medium · Height: 25 cm · Soil: Moist, well-draining, fertile