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Read the latest Starke Ayres Seed News magazine
Lettuce | 5 June 2025
Launch Of 2 New Innovative Speciality Lettuce Varieties
In an exciting development for the local speciality lettuce industry, two new green multileaf type lettuce varieties, Verdagio and Green Machine, have been launched by Starke Ayres. Both promise superior yields, vibrant colour, and vigorous growth. Read More on this
Lettuce | 11 July 2024
Introducing Vernalia: Your Winter Crisp Head Lettuce Solution
Winter's grip on fresh produce is about to change with the arrival of Vernalia, a remarkable new crisp-head lettuce variety. Specifically selected for the colder months, Vernalia boasts a set of outstanding features that redefine the standards for winter production. Read More on this
Lettuce | 3 July 2024
Starke Ayres Joins Little Gem Segment With Tyros
Little gem lettuce is often described as a cross between romaine and butter lettuce. These mini romaine types produce compact hearts with tender sweet leaves, perfect for side salads or wrap substitutes. Harvested as hearts or used as loose leaves in processing, these varieties are versatile and a good addition to any speciality lettuce range. Growers must bear in mind that little gem varieties are fast maturing and have to be cut as soon as they are mature due to their limited field holding capacity. Read More on this
Lettuce | 7 December 2023
Starke Ayres enters the Multileaf Butterhead Market with Canagio and Rubagio
Starke Ayres enters the multileaf butterhead market with Canagio and Rubagio. Read More on this
Lettuce | 20 September 2023
Exciting New Red Multileaf Lettuce Prodigio
In response to changing market requirements, Starke Ayres is constantly adjusting the range of speciality lettuce offered to growers. The worldwide search for the best genetics aims to make the best possible quality, yields and disease resistances available to local growers. Customer demands can be satisfied only by having a comprehensive range of varieties over all segments. Read More on this
Lettuce | 7 November 2022
High-density mechanical harvesting - the future of lettuce production?
With the demand for healthy, leafy greens on the rise and consumers becoming more health conscious, growing short-cycle crops such as speciality lettuce can become challenging. Read More on this
Lettuce | 2 November 2022
L670 punches back against Fusarium in KwaZulu-Natal
L670 impressed growers, with its uniformity and ideal head and frame size for their market. L670 is attractive for the local KwaZulu-Natal market owing to its size, which optimally fills crates to the top. L670 also stands out in the market due to its dark-green colour, giving the variety a crisp, fresh appearance that consumers want. Read More on this
Lettuce | 1 July 2022
Esky proves it can handle severe weather conditions
Esky, a large-framed mid-winter lettuce, showed great potential this year during the winter production in the eastern part of Namibia. Read More on this
Lettuce | 6 October 2021
Suntred: The new little gem lettuce to add colour to your range
With all the different lettuce types currently on the market, finding that ideal variety mix for your range can be daunting. With the launch of SUNTRED, choosing your red little gem variety has just been made easy. Read More on this
Lettuce | 21 April 2021