How to grow Arugula

Eruca vesicaria · rocket, roquette

A fast, peppery annual salad green for cool weather. Leaves are ready as early as 4 weeks after sowing, and plants bolt quickly in hot weather.

Quick facts

Type	Vegetable
Family	Brassicaceae
Light	Full sun
Soil pH	6–7
Frost	tolerates light frost
Soil for sowing	from 5 °C
Germination	7 days
Seedlings ready	21 days
Sowing to harvest	28 days
Where it grows	Greenhouse, Open ground, At home

When to plant

Sow for seedlings about 4 weeks before planting out.

It tolerates light frost: plant out in open ground about three weeks before your last spring frost.

In an unheated greenhouse everything moves about three weeks earlier.

The first harvest comes about 28 days after the shoots appear.

Frost dates · When to plant

Care

Greenhouse

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 2 days	—	—
Growth	every 3 days	—	—
Harvest	every 3 days	—	nitrogen, 7 days into the stage

Open ground

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 2 days	—	—
Growth	every 4 days	—	—
Harvest	every 4 days	—	nitrogen, 7 days into the stage

At home

Stage	Watering	Temperature	Feeding
Germination	every 2 days	—	—
Growth	every 3 days	—	—
Harvest	every 3 days	—	nitrogen, 7 days into the stage

Growing notes

Light

A sunny spot is ideal in spring and late summer; light shade in early and mid-summer slows bolting.

Soil

Fertile, well-drained soil that holds some moisture, pH 6–7.

Care

Sow 1 cm deep and thin to 15 cm apart. Keep the soil moist for steady growth and to delay bolting. Pick leaves when plants are about 10 cm tall, and sow again every 2–3 weeks for a steady supply, until about a month before the first autumn frost. A light nitrogen feed after cutting helps new leaves.

Pests and diseases of Arugula

Sources

Figures checked against these sources.