Golden Ball

Technical Profile of the "Zolotyi Shar" Lettuce

This leaf lettuce variety, developed by the experts at the "Mayak" Experimental Station (NAAS of Ukraine), serves as a precise tool for early-season crop production within Ukraine's temperate climate. Unlike heading lettuce types, "Zolotyi Shar" is engineered to produce a compact, dense rosette of leaves, which is a critical factor for maintaining logistics efficiency and visual appeal in bunch-sale operations.

Morphological Features and Development

The biological value of this variety lies in its rapid vegetative mass accumulation at moderate temperatures. Key technical specifications include:

• Plant Type: Leaf lettuce, eliminating the time-consuming process of head formation;
• Rosette Structure: Upright, which ensures natural airflow within the plant, significantly reducing the risk of fungal infections on the leaf blades;
• Mass: Medium, optimized for standard tray packing, ensuring minimal leaf breakage.

Practical Application in Vegetable Production

The breeding objective of the "Mayak" station was to create a flexible variety suitable for both open-field cultivation and temporary film covers. Integrating "Zolotyi Shar" into a crop rotation allows producers to capture the early spring greens market segment. Uniformity across the rows simplifies mechanical harvesting, while the robust structural integrity of the rosette ensures resilience during transport, protecting the harvest from damage from farm to market.