Magenta Lettuce
Magenta lettuce is a gorgeous green-and-red summer crisp lettuce variety, prized for its excellent heat tolerance. This open-pollinated lettuce forms a loose yet chunky head of glossy, slightly puckered leaves that are tinged with a magenta-red blush. The interior has a crispy green heart, while the outer leaves sport that striking color – making for both a beautiful garden plant and a colorful addition to salads. This variety was bred to withstand the heat of late spring and summer, meaning it holds sweet, non-bitter flavor and maintains a lush head long after many other lettuces would have turned bitter or spindly.
- This is an annual open-pollinated seed that grows well in USDA Hardiness Zones 6-10.
- Each packet will have a little over 100 seeds.
Magenta lettuce is a gorgeous green-and-red summer crisp lettuce variety, prized for its excellent heat tolerance. This open-pollinated lettuce forms a loose yet chunky head of glossy, slightly puckered leaves that are tinged with a magenta-red blush. The interior has a crispy green heart, while the outer leaves sport that striking color – making for both a beautiful garden plant and a colorful addition to salads. This variety was bred to withstand the heat of late spring and summer, meaning it holds sweet, non-bitter flavor and maintains a lush head long after many other lettuces would have turned bitter or spindly.
- This is an annual open-pollinated seed that grows well in USDA Hardiness Zones 6-10.
- Each packet will have a little over 100 seeds.
Magenta lettuce is a gorgeous green-and-red summer crisp lettuce variety, prized for its excellent heat tolerance. This open-pollinated lettuce forms a loose yet chunky head of glossy, slightly puckered leaves that are tinged with a magenta-red blush. The interior has a crispy green heart, while the outer leaves sport that striking color – making for both a beautiful garden plant and a colorful addition to salads. This variety was bred to withstand the heat of late spring and summer, meaning it holds sweet, non-bitter flavor and maintains a lush head long after many other lettuces would have turned bitter or spindly.
- This is an annual open-pollinated seed that grows well in USDA Hardiness Zones 6-10.
- Each packet will have a little over 100 seeds.
Growing Instructions
Magenta lettuce can be planted in spring, and unlike most lettuces, it also excels in summer plantings. For an early start, sow seeds indoors 3–4 weeks before your last frost and transplant outdoors when seedlings have a few true leaves. If direct sowing, plant seeds 1/8" inch deep spaced about 10"-12" apart in loose, fertile soil. This variety enjoys full sun in cool weather, but if you’re growing it at the height of summer, provide a little afternoon shade or use shade cloth to keep it from overheating. Lettuce has shallow roots, so keep the soil consistently moist and rich in organic matter. Magenta is remarkably forgiving for a lettuce. It won’t suddenly turn bitter overnight and can tolerate warm nights that would cause other lettuces to flower. Succession plant a new batch of seeds every 2-3 weeks if you want a continuous supply of heads through the season.
Harvest, Storage, and Use
Magenta lettuce is ready to harvest in about 60-70 days for full-sized heads, but you can start snipping outer leaves much sooner for an earlier taste. You’ll know a head is mature when it feels firm in the center and the leaves have formed a distinct layered rosette. To harvest a full head, cut at the base of the plant with a sharp knife, just above soil level. Rinse and cool the lettuce soon after harvest. Picking in the morning gives the crispiest, sweetest leaves. Because Magenta resists bolting, you have a generous harvest window. After harvesting, store whole heads in the refrigerator crisper, wrapped loosely in a damp paper towel or in a produce bag. They can stay fresh for over a week if kept cold and moist. You can also wash and spin-dry the lettuce, then store the cleaned leaves in a sealed container with a paper towel.
In the kitchen, Magenta’s beautiful bi-color leaves make any salad look fancy. The outer red-tinged leaves are great for adding color to mixed salads or as sandwich toppers. The inner leaves are dense and crunchy, perfect for lettuce wraps or Caesar salads. Because it’s a summer crisp type, Magenta combines the tenderness of leaf lettuce with the crunch of iceberg, so you get the best of both worlds.
| 👍 Good companions | Carrots, peas, beets (classic companions), radishes (quick-growing radish can be interplanted and pulled before lettuce needs space), basil, cilantro, dill, marigolds, alyssum, onions, garlic, chives, shallots (repel pests), chamomile (attracts pollinators) | ||
| 👎 Bad companions | Parsley (causes premature bolting) | ||
| Growing zones | 6-10 | Crop type | Annual |
| Crop difficulty | Mid | Seed type | Open-Pollinated |
| Sowing method | Both | Containers? | Yes |
| Sun req. | Full/Partial Sun | Ideal soil temp. | 60-75°F |
| Days to germination | 7-10 days | Days to maturity | 60-70 days |
| Seed spacing | 8"-12" | Row spacing | 12" |
| Seed depth | 1/8" | Needs support? | No |