Vegetable / Cool season
Arugula
Also called rocket
Peppery salad green that is ready before you are
Plant out byApr 20zone 6
- Family
- Cabbage (Brassicaceae)
- Sun
- Part sun (4+ h)
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Days to harvest
- 25-45 days
- Spacing
- 6 in apart, rows 10 in
- Pot size
- 1 gal pot (great in pots)
- Frost
- Half-hardy
- Start
- Direct sow
- Water
When to plant
Showing .
Averages for a typical garden in the region. Your local frost dates may differ by 2-3 weeks, check a local source.Too late this year (try fall)
In zone 6, sow or plant outdoors Mar 23 to Apr 20; sow again for fall Aug 25 to Sep 29. Average last frost Apr 20, first fall frost Oct 20.
Units
Arugula is the fastest win in my bed. Seed goes in, it sprouts within days, and you can cut baby leaves in about 25 days. Full leaves take closer to 40 or 45. The flavor is sharp and peppery, and it gets sharper the warmer the weather.
Heat is where things go wrong. Long days and warm weather push arugula to bolt, and once a flower stalk shows, the leaves turn hot and tough. Flea beetles are the second problem. They chew tiny shot holes in the leaves, mostly in spring, and a bad week can riddle a whole row. Lay row cover right after sowing and leave it on until harvest.
So treat it as a spring and fall crop. Sow as soon as the soil can be worked, since the seed sprouts in soil as cool as 40 degrees F. Then skip summer and sow again from late summer until about 3 to 4 weeks before your first frost. Fall rows often see less flea beetle damage. Pots do not need much depth, a few inches is enough, so a window box or an old salad tub with holes punched in it works. To harvest, hold a small bunch at the top, cut an inch or two above the soil, and it grows back for another round. Two or three cuts is a fair run before the plants tire.
Things to consider
- Sow a short row every 10 to 12 days in spring instead of one long row. One big sowing comes ready all at once and bolts all at once, and you end up with more than you can eat in a week.
- Light shade in late spring can slow bolting a little, but it will not stop it once days get long. Plan your biggest sowings for the cool weeks at both ends of the season.
- If one plant flowers, you can leave it standing. Bees visit the small cream flowers, the flowers are edible in salads, and the plant may drop seed for a few volunteers later on.
Good neighbours
Pests to watch for
Flea beetlesCabbage worms
Questions about growing arugula
Why does my arugula taste so harsh?
Heat and age both push the flavor from peppery to harsh. Pick leaves young and in the morning, and plan your main crop for cool weather. If a plant has started to flower, pull it and sow fresh seed. Uneven watering can add to the bite, so keep the soil from drying out.
Can I grow arugula indoors?
Yes, on a bright windowsill or under a grow light. Shallow trays are fine because the roots stay short. Keep the mix evenly moist, since a tray that dries out pushes the plants to flower. Cut the leaves young and sow a new tray every couple of weeks for a steady supply.
Is wild arugula the same plant?
Not quite. Wild arugula is a related plant with narrower leaves, slower growth and a stronger bite, and it can come back for more than one year. Regular salad arugula is faster and simpler to start from seed. Both are grown and harvested in much the same way. Wild types handle summer a little better, which makes them a fair choice if spring is short where you live.
Save this crop
Pin it to a garden board so it is there when planting time comes round.
Similar crops
Sources
General guidance for home gardens. Frost dates are averages for a zone or region; check a local source (in the US your county extension office) for local timing.