Rubygo is a slow-bolting red leaf lettuce that brings both reliability and flavor to cool-season gardens. This compact cultivar reaches harvest in 60 days from transplants and thrives in the 60-70°F sweet spot where lettuce truly excels. Its deep red leaves and dense, manageable growth habit make it equally at home in small garden spaces or succession plantings for continuous harvests throughout spring and fall.
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Moderate
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Slow-bolting is the defining trait here, which means you get a longer window to harvest before the plant runs to seed, a genuine advantage in spring gardens where warm weather creeps in fast. The red leaf color runs deep and appealing, and the flavor is notably flavorful for a commercial-type variety. Its compact growth means you can tuck it into tight spaces at just 6 inches apart, stretching your growing room further than you'd expect.
Rubygo is a salad green through and through, suited to fresh eating where its crisp, flavorful leaves shine. The one-cut harvest method noted in its description suggests it's ideal for gardeners who prefer harvesting the whole head at once rather than picking individual leaves, making it practical for meal planning.
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Start Rubygo indoors 4-6 weeks before your last spring frost. Germinate seeds in temperatures between 60-70°F. Transplants are ready when they develop their first true leaves. At approximately 16,000 plants per ounce, seeds are small and benefit from careful sowing at a shallow depth.
Transplant seedlings outdoors once they've hardened off and soil can be worked. Rubygo tolerates frost, so you can plant earlier than heat-loving crops. Space transplants 6 inches apart in rows 12 inches apart. Soil temperature should be cool, ideally 50-60°F, to encourage strong establishment.
Direct sow seeds as soon as soil can be worked in spring, and again 8-10 weeks before your first fall frost. Sow every 2-3 weeks for continuous harvests. Press seeds lightly into moist soil and keep the seedbed consistently moist until germination.
Harvest Rubygo at 60 days from transplanting when heads reach full size and the outer leaves show rich red color. Use the one-cut method, removing the entire head at soil level with a sharp knife, or harvest individual outer leaves as needed. Morning harvest, when leaves are crisp and full of moisture, yields the best quality.
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