In order to investigate the mechanism of growth inhibition by salt stress, lettuces were grown hydroponically in three different nutrient solutions, normal and 30 mM or 50 mM $KNO_3$-added nutrient solutions, and the electrical conductivities of these solutions were 1.0, 4.5, and 6.5 dS/m, respectively. The activities of plasma and vacuolar $H^+$-ATPases in the root tissue of lettuce were measured by specific inhibitors, 100 ${mu}M$ vanadate and 50 mM $NO_3^-$, respectively. Microsomal ATPase activity of lettuce grown in the normal nutrient solution was $356pm1.5$ nmol/min/mg protein. When lettuces were grown in 30 mM and 50 mM $KNO_3$-added nutrient solutions, total activities of microsomal ATPases were increased by 1.6 and 1.9 times, respectively, and the increases were mainly mediated by vacuolar $H^+$-ATPase. These results show that lettuces adapt themselves to salt-stressed condition by increasing the activities of $H^+$-ATPases. Effects of various heavy metal ions were investigated on the microsomal ATPases and various metal ions at 100 $mu M$ inhibited the activities by 10$sim$25%. $Cu^{2+}$ showed the highest inhibitory effect on the vacuolar $H^+$-ATPase. These results suggest that lettuce increases the activities of root ATPases, specially that of vacuolar $H^+$-ATPase, in salt-stressed growth conditions and $Cu^{2+}$ could be a useful tool to control the activity of vacuolar $H^+$-ATPase.