Tips for Growing Arugula Plants
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Arugula Plant Profile
Arugula is one of those plants that either love it or hate it. It tends to have a musky smell and taste that may put off some people, while others find their spicy bite very refreshing. Don't feel bad if you don't like the rocket; You are in good company.
Grow Fresh Vegetables at Home – Discover the Best Tools and Seeds for Planting!
Arugula is a leafy vegetable with irregular, lobed leaves that are tender and delicious when small and young but turn bitter as they age. The flavor is said to be spicy or mustard, and the leaves are often added raw to salads or as a topping in sandwiches or added to stews or soups.
As a cold season leafy vegetable, arugula is typically planted in the spring for the early summer harvest or in late summer for the fall harvest. It is a fast-growing vegetable that ripens in 40 to 50 days.
How to plant arugula
Arugula is a fast-growing green that is perfect for the garden in early spring but can also be planted in late summer for the fall harvest.
You can find arugula plants in nurseries, but they usually started with seeds. You can start sowing indoors four to six weeks before your last frost date, but arugula seeds can withstand cold soil and you may want to wait and plant straight into the garden a week or two before your last freeze date.
Plant a new batch successively every two weeks to extend the harvest and take advantage of the short season.
Start by spreading the seeds over the prepared soil and pressing them firmly. The seeds are small and should barely be covered with soil.
When the seeds germinate and start to grow, thin the seedlings to a distance of 4 to 6 inches. You can use diluted plants in salads or other culinary applications.
| How to Grow Arugula | |
|---|---|
| Botanical Name | Eruca versicaria subsp. sativa |
| Common Name | Arugula, rocket, roquette |
| Plant Type | Annual vegetable |
| Mature Size | 12 in. tall; 12-in. spread |
| Sun Exposure | Full sun |
| Soil Type | Humus-rich, well-draining |
| Soil pH | Sightly acidic to neutral (6.0 to 7.0) |
| Hardiness Zone | Annual plant; grown in zones 3 to 11 |
| Native Area | Mediterranean region |
| Toxicity | Non-toxic |
Arugula Care
Ligh
As long as temperatures stay low, full sun is the best exposure. As the weather warms up, the rocket takes advantage of some shade, especially in the afternoon.
Soil
Arugula is not a difficult plant, so it grows in most types of soil. It grows best in well-drained but moist soils with a pH between 6.0 and 7.0.
Water
The biggest maintenance task is keeping the arugula well watered. Regular water will prevent the plants from being damaged too quickly.
Temperature and Humidity
Arugula loves the cold - 45 to 65 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal - but it can be damaged or stressed by frost or snow. Keep row covers handy and protects your plants in extreme cold.
If you are surprised by a sudden heatwave, try to shade the plants and water them. Plant the seeds back in the shade of taller plants, such as tomatoes and beans.
Fertilizer
Arugula grows so fast that a single application of high nitrogen fertilizer or rich compost mixed with the soil at the time of planting is usually all that is needed. Supplementary feeding is only necessary if the leaves are light green and clearly malnourished, as is sometimes the case in very poor soils. Like other leafy vegetables, nitrogen is the key nutrient in arugula.
Varieties of Arugula
- 'Apollo' is a Dutch heirloom with smooth, oval leaves and a milder flavor. It holds up fairly well in the heat. 'Apollo' matures in 40 to 45 days.
- 'Astro II' is another milder arugula that matures early, in 35 to 38 days.
- 'Olive Leaf': Also known as 'Rucola Selvatica A Foglia Di Oliva', this is a wild, Italian type. It has an intense, but not overpowering, flavor. It matures in 45 to 50 days.
- 'Sylvetta' has narrow, spicy leaves and is slow to bolt. Germination to maturity takes 45 to 50 days.
Harvesting
You can start harvesting the new leaves when they are about 7 inches long. Just pluck a few outer leaves as a cut and turn the variety over and let the rosette continue to grow. Mature plants can be harvested as in the front, just above the soil line. Depending on the weather, they can sprout and fill up again.
Once the plants grow by sending out flower stalks, the leaves tend to turn bitter. But don't rush to uproot the plants; the flowers have a lot of flavor without the warmth of the leaves.
The new leaves are very tender and should be eaten fresh, in a salad or in a sandwich. The older leaves are also great when eaten fresh and are great additions to stews, egg dishes, or soups. They must be added at the end of cooking. The fragile flowers can be tossed on salads or soups, sprinkled on sandwiches, and even added to drinks.
Common Pests and Diseases
Being a Brassica, arugula has a number of pests that adore it. Fortunately, it has a short growing season and is already out of the garden when most of the bugs start to arrive.
If necessary, place line cover tunnels on the plantations. Snails do the most damage but are on the lookout for eggs of cabbage worms, cabbage caterpillars, and cruciferous butterflies, as well as aphids and flea beetles.
Enjoy This Video Tutorial About Growing Arugula
Source: Easy Peasy Gardening
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