Tropicana Lettuce is a heat-tolerant green leaf variety that delivers crisp, reliable harvests in just 52 days from transplants. This open-pollinated cultivar thrives across hardiness zones 3 through 11, making it adaptable to most North American climates. Its compact growth habit keeps it tidy in beds and containers, while its cool-season preference means you can succession sow every 2 to 3 weeks from spring through fall for a continuous supply of tender leaves.
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3-11
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Moderate
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A standard green leaf with genuine heat tolerance, Tropicana handles warmer weather better than many lettuce varieties while still preferring the 60 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit that most lettuces love. It germinates reliably below 70°F and reaches harvestable size in just over seven weeks from transplants, making it one of the faster green leaf options. Its compact growth and ability to grow across such a wide hardiness range (zones 3 through 11) means gardeners from cool climates to warm ones can find success with this variety.
Tropicana works as a fresh salad green, harvested either as individual leaves for salad mix or allowed to form a full head. Its heat tolerance makes it valuable for spring and fall gardens where you want to extend the lettuce season beyond the ideal cool-weather window. The compact growth habit suits container gardening, raised beds, and succession plantings for continuous harvest.
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Start seeds indoors in a cool location (below 70°F) for 4 to 6 weeks before transplanting outdoors. Maintain germination temperatures between 60 and 70°F. Johnny's Selected Seeds reports approximately 16,000 plants per ounce of seed, so sow thinly into seed-starting mix. Keep soil consistently moist until seedlings emerge.
Transplant outdoors as soon as your soil can be worked in spring, or 4 to 6 weeks before your first fall frost. Tropicana is frost-tolerant and can be planted with your earliest worked soil. Space transplants 6 inches apart with 12 inches between rows. Harden off seedlings over 7 to 10 days before moving them to the garden.
Direct sow seeds in spring or late summer for fall harvest. Sow seeds 1/8 inch deep and keep soil moist until germination. Thin seedlings to 6 inches apart once they have true leaves.
Tropicana reaches harvest in 52 days from transplants. You can harvest individual outer leaves once the plant is established, or wait for a full head to form. For continuous harvest, pick outer leaves and allow the center to keep growing. For full heads, cut at soil level when the head feels full and the leaves are crisp. Harvest in the morning when leaves are most turgid. You can extend the harvest window by holding cut heads in cool storage (35 to 40°F with high humidity) for up to 14 to 20 days, longer if lettuce was grown slowly in cooler temperatures.
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