Crop type: Salad Leaves
Lactuca sativa ‘Navara’ AGM
Common name: Lettuce ‘Navara’ AGM
Crop slug: salad-leaves
This Allotment Pro editorial draft summarises the cited RHS cultivar profile and its linked crop guidance. Check the sources and adjust cultivation decisions for local conditions.RHS cultivar profile
1 - Overview
‘Navara’ is an award-winning compact oakleaf lettuce with a loose heart. Its glossy outer foliage matures to a very dark red while the young centre remains green, creating a strong two-tone rosette. The accepted cultivar has resistance to lettuce downy mildew and aphids, valuable qualities for a low leafy crop eaten fresh.
It may be grown to a loose mature rosette or harvested young in a mixed salad-leaf bed. The compact habit, rich colour and rounded lobes make it especially useful in containers and edible ornamental planting.
2 - Size
- Ultimate height
- 0.1–0.5 metre
- Ultimate spread
- 0.1–0.5 metre
- Time to ultimate size
- One year
- Habit
- Tufted loose rosette
Thin to about 25cm for mature plants. Closer sowing is suitable for baby-leaf production if the crop is harvested promptly before crowding reduces airflow.
3 - Growing conditions
- Suitable soils
- Chalk, clay, loam or sand
- Moisture
- Moist but well drained
- Preferred pH
- Acid, alkaline or neutral
Grow in fertile soil that holds moisture without becoming stagnant. Incorporate mature compost before sowing and water during dry spells so leaves remain tender and plants do not bolt. Container compost may need daily checks in summer.
4 - Position and hardiness
- Light
- Full sun or partial shade
- Aspect
- East-, south- or west-facing
- Exposure
- Sheltered
- Hardiness
- H2, tolerant of low temperatures but not freezing
Sun develops strong red pigmentation, while light summer shade helps prevent overheating and bolting. Protect early and late crops with fleece or a cloche when cold conditions threaten.
5 - Colour and seasonal interest
Glossy oak-shaped leaves form a compact open rosette. Rounded lobes on the outer foliage deepen to dark wine red or burgundy, while the loose heart stays fresh green. The leaves should look broad and lobed rather than finely frilled, with the red-to-green contrast concentrated toward the centre.
Harvest before a flower stem develops. Bolting makes the leaves bitter and disrupts the low rosette form.
6 - Botanical details
- Family
- Asteraceae
- Native to Great Britain and Ireland
- No
- Foliage
- Deciduous
- Habit
- Tufted
- Name status
- Accepted
- RHS recognition
- Award of Garden Merit
Genus
Lactuca includes annuals, biennials, perennials and shrubs with alternate leaves, milky white sap and daisy-like flowers. Cultivated lettuce is selected for edible foliage and harvested before flowering.
Safety
Wash the deeply lobed leaves carefully, checking the low rosette for soil, slugs and damaged material. Use only crops that have not received treatments unsuitable for edible leaves.
7 - How to grow
Cultivation
Sow thinly in shallow drills from spring into summer and repeat small batches for continuity. Thin mature plants to about 25cm, or retain closer stands for a quick baby-leaf crop. Keep soil evenly moist, weed carefully around shallow roots and remove decaying outer foliage.
Pick selected outer leaves while protecting the green centre for regrowth, or cut the whole compact rosette. For cut-and-come-again salad production, leave about 2.5cm of stem so a smaller second crop may form. Resistance to aphids and downy mildew reduces risk but does not replace spacing and hygiene.
Propagation
Propagate from seed. Make succession sowings from spring through summer, avoiding overheated dry seedbeds that inhibit germination.
Suggested locations
- Mixed salad-leaf bed
- Patio container or windowbox
- Raised vegetable bed
- Edible ornamental border
- Protected early or late crop
Pruning
No pruning is required. Outer-leaf removal and top cutting are harvest methods; keep the central growing point intact if regrowth is wanted.
Pests
‘Navara’ is resistant to aphids but may still be attacked by slugs and snails. Inspect beneath the low foliage and protect seedlings.
Diseases
The cultivar resists lettuce downy mildew and is generally disease free. Maintain airflow, rotation and clean harvest practices, and remove grey or decaying leaves promptly.