Sunland Lettuce is a heat-tolerant romaine that brings reliable production to cool-season gardens, reaching harvest in just 56 days from transplants. This open-pollinated variety grows in a compact form, making it equally suited to tight garden spaces or containers. Bred for dependable head and heart formation even when temperatures climb, it germinates best between 60-70°F and tolerates light frosts, allowing you to extend your lettuce season into shoulder months when most varieties bolt.
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This heat-tolerant romaine combines the compact growth habit that appeals to space-conscious gardeners with the dual-harvest potential of full heads or tender hearts. At just 56 days to maturity from transplants, you'll be harvesting in under two months, and its open-pollinated genetics mean you can save seed for next year. The ability to perform when temperatures rise gives Sunland an edge over traditional lettuce varieties that struggle in anything warmer than ideal cool-season conditions.
Sunland Lettuce is grown for fresh harvest as complete heads or to cut inner hearts at peak tenderness. As a romaine type, it works beautifully in Caesar salads where the sturdy, upright leaves hold dressing well, and the hearts are prized for composed salads where their sweet, crisp texture shines. The compact growth habit and reliable production also make it suited to succession planting every 2-3 weeks for a continuous supply of salad greens throughout the cool season.
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Start Sunland Lettuce seeds indoors 4-6 weeks before your last spring frost or desired transplant date. Germinate at 60-70°F, keeping soil consistently moist but not waterlogged. Seedlings are ready to transplant when they develop true leaves and reach approximately 2-3 inches tall. If using pelleted seed, protect it from humidity fluctuations by storing in an air-tight container until sowing.
Harden off transplants by gradually exposing them to outdoor conditions over 7-10 days before planting. Transplant when soil is workable and daytime temperatures are consistently between 60-70°F. Space plants 6 inches apart in rows 12 inches apart. The variety's frost tolerance allows transplanting as soon as soil can be worked in spring, and fall transplants can continue through early autumn.
Direct sow Sunland Lettuce seeds as soon as soil is workable in spring, pressing them lightly into moist soil. For continuous harvest, sow every 2-3 weeks through late spring and again in mid-summer for fall production. Seeds germinate best below 70°F, so time fall sowings to avoid the heat of midsummer.
Sunland Lettuce reaches harvest maturity 56 days from transplant. For full heads, harvest when the plant forms a tight, compact head with tightly wrapped outer leaves; cut at soil level with a sharp knife. For hearts, wait until the center leaves have formed a dense, pale-colored bundle and harvest by cutting just above the soil line, leaving the outer leaves to potentially resprout. For salad mix, begin cutting outer leaves once plants are 4-5 inches tall, working inward. Cut in the cool of early morning when leaves are crisp and full of moisture.
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