Looking To Grow a Red Lettuce Variety? A Hydroponic Grower's Guide from Paramount Seeds

Red lettuce is a visually striking crop in hydroponic greenhouse production. Whether you're growing for retail, foodservice, or farmers markets, the right variety makes all the difference — in color intensity, bolting tolerance, yield, and shelf life. Here's our breakdown of the best red lettuce varieties available from Paramount Seeds, organized by type. New to lettuce production? See our guide to choosing your first lettuce varieties.

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Why Choose Pelleted Seed for Hydroponic Lettuce?

Pelleted seed is the standard for professional hydroponic lettuce production. The uniform coating makes seeding precise and consistent, reduces seed waste, and improves germination rates in rockwool and foam plug systems. All varieties listed below are available in pelleted form. For a full explanation of how pelleting works, see our pelleted seed guide.

Red Oakleaf Varieties

Bughatti F1 Oakleaf Lettuce — Shop Now
A grower favorite. Bughatti is vigorous, fast-growing, and slow to bolt, with a healthy base and strong root system. Its performance in NFT systems is particularly stable and reliable — making it a low-risk, high-reward choice for year-round production. Deep red color with a well-formed head.

Rouxai F1 Oakleaf Lettuce — Shop Now
Intense cherry-red color on both sides of the leaf — a standout on any retail shelf. Compact, upright habit with year-round suitability in cooler growing environments. Ideal for processing and fresh pack markets.

Rutilai F1 Oakleaf Lettuce (RZ 83-80) — Shop Now
A red oakleaf with internal green color — slightly faster-growing than full-red types. Good tipburn and bolting tolerance, strong downy mildew resistance, and suitable for year-round production. Also performs outdoors, giving it flexibility across growing systems.

Red Butterhead Varieties

Gilmore F1 Red Butterhead Lettuce (RZ 42-512) — Shop Now
A dark red, large butterhead suited to both heated and unheated greenhouse production. Gilmore has good cover leaves, a long harvest window, and yellow-green internal color with a red leaf base. Strong resistance to bolting, internal tipburn, and Big Vein. Excellent for growers who need scheduling flexibility. For a full explanation of resistance codes, see our disease resistance guide.

Red Multileaf (Single-Cut) Varieties

Multileaf types — sometimes called Salanova or Artisan types — are harvested with a single cut at the base, making them highly efficient for processing and foodservice. They're gaining rapid popularity at restaurants and farmers markets. For a full overview of the multileaf category, see our multileaf lettuce grower's guide.

Rubyglace F1 Multileaf Lettuce — Shop Now
Very high plant uniformity with intense dark red color and thick leaves. Exceptionally strong against tipburn and bolting, with a high number of uniform leaves per head. Purpose-built for the sandwich and fresh wrap market, but equally attractive for farmers markets and restaurants. Resistances: Bl: 16-35.

Multired 4 F1 Multileaf Lettuce — Shop Now
Brilliant red, oak-leaf shaped leaves with an upright plant shape. Thin, smooth leaves and very large leaf size make this a visually impressive product. Good bolting tolerance and a favorite for restaurant and market growers. Best suited for markets where visual impact matters more than pack consistency.

Multired 80 F1 Multileaf Lettuce — Shop Now
A triple-red multileaf with medium incised curly leaves and strong vigor. Large, open head shape with excellent tipburn tolerance and bolting resistance. The standout choice for multicolor and trio mixes — described as the best red to compete with greens in a mixed pack. See our red/green multipack pairing guide for recommended combinations. Early maturing with high disease resistance (Bl: 16-31).

Crystal Lettuce

Scamander F1 Crystal Lettuce (RZ CL5001) — Shop Now
A unique category in its own right. Scamander is an intense quadruple-red crystal lettuce with crispy, smooth leaves that maintain dark red color even in low light conditions. Designed for high-density cultivation — toddler, teenleaf, and salatrio formats — it's machine harvestable and suited to year-round indoor hydroponic production. Average crop weight 200g, 35–50 day growing cycle. See our crystal lettuce variety guide to compare Scamander against other ice lettuce options. Resistances: Bl:29-40EU, LMV:1, Fol:1.

Red Romaine & Little Gem Varieties

Intred F1 Romaine Lettuce — Shop Now
A red Little Gem type with a unique internal red color — rare in the category. Medium size, good shelf life, and medium bolting tolerance. A farmers market favorite for its color and compact heart shape.

Truchas F1 Mini Lettuce — Shop Now
Stunning contrast between green hearts and dark cherry-red outer leaves. Pairs beautifully with green Little Gem types like Dragoon for a mixed pack. Broad disease resistance including Bl:16-35EU and LMVR.

Choosing the Right Variety for Your System

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Browse our full Red Lettuce Varieties collection or contact us if you need help selecting the right variety for your system and market.