Description

Lettuce Butterhead Attraction (Lactuca sativa) is a butterhead variety known for its compact, round heads of soft, tender, and buttery-textured leaves. With a mild, sweet flavour, it’s ideal for fresh salads, wraps, and gourmet dishes. Its dense rosette of light green leaves forms a tight core while maintaining a delicate appearance.

This variety is well-suited to South African climates, performing best in the cooler months of autumn and spring. It thrives in full sun to partial shade, preferring rich, well-draining soil with consistent moisture. Reaching maturity in 60-95 days, it’s excellent for both home gardens and market growing, and grows well in containers, raised beds, or open soil.

Butterhead Attraction offers high yields, resistance to bolting, and excellent texture, making it a standout choice for local growers.

 

Benefits

Garden Performance

• Fast-growing and suitable for succession sowing, ensuring a continuous harvest.
  
• Perfect for raised beds, containers, and intercropping.
  
• Performs well in partially shaded areas, especially in warmer provinces.

Pollinator & Pest 

• Dense heads act as living mulch, offering microclimate benefits to nearby crops.
• Attracts hoverflies and lacewings, which prey on aphids.
  
• Interplanting with herbs like thyme and garlic can naturally repel pests like aphids and slugs.
  

Nutritional and Medicinal 

• Low in calories and high in vitamin A, K, and folate – supports eye health, bone strength, and cell repair.
  
• Contains chlorophyll and antioxidants, which may help reduce inflammation.
  
• High water content contributes to hydration and digestive health.
  

Health and Culinary Highlights

• Easily digested and suitable for most diets.
  
• Soft texture and mild taste make it a favourite in raw dishes, sandwiches, and fresh wraps.
  

• Can be lightly steamed or sautéed when leaves mature for variety.
  

  
  

How To Use

Butterhead Attraction Lettuce flourishes under the following conditions:

• Season: Year Round
• Temperature: 15-20°C
• Germinate: 7-14 days
• Depth: 3 mm
• Spacing: 30x30 cm
• Harvest: 60-95 days
• Height: 20-15 cm
• Flowering Season: Bolts in late spring if not harvested early
• Exposure: Full sun to partial shade (ideal in warmer zones)

Ideal Growing Environment

• Loose, fertile loam or compost-enriched soil; pH 6.0–7.0.
  
• Keep soil evenly moist but not waterlogged. Drip irrigation preferred for disease prevention.
  
• Apply organic compost before sowing; light top-dress with nitrogen-rich fertiliser at 3–4 weeks.
  
• Prefers cooler climates; ideal for Highveld, coastal winters, and shaded summer gardens.
• Fares best in moderate humidity (50–70%); avoid overcrowding to reduce mildew risk.
• Susceptible to aphids, slugs, and cutworms – companion planting and netting are effective.
• Ideal for containers, vertical planters, raised beds, or underplanting taller crops.
• Benefits from being planted alongside carrots, radishes, beets, onions, cucumbers, and strawberries.
• Intercropping: Pair with carrots, radish, or chamomile for pest control.
• Crop Rotation: Plant after heavy feeders or legumes. Follow with root crops or herbs.
• Soil Rejuvenation: Till in residues to add organic matter.
• It too is mutually beneficial with chervil and dill – they enhance lettuce growth and deter pests.
• Avoid planting with broccoli and cabbage as they compete for nutrients and may attract shared pests.

 

For placement of large orders contact us at: office@greenhouston.co.za