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If you often purchase arugula in those plastic containers at the supermarket, have you considered planting arugula yourself? This peppery green is easy to grow in gardens and containers. And, if you choose the right variety, it’s perennial. For a spicy summer salad option, read this guide to planting arugula.
If you’ve ever read a British or Australian recipe and wondered what rocket or roquette is, well, it’s arugula. I explain more about the etymology of the word in my article about arugula flowers. You can also consider that piece a helpful continuation of this article.
I use arugula on its own or mixed with other greens in a salad. This member of the mustard family becomes a base to serve under heavier salads, like chickpea or potato. I like the taste of arugula on top of pizza. And I’ll stuff a few leaves into a sandwich to give it a little kick.
Arugula is yummy in stir fries, too. Add a little olive oil, salt and arugula leaves to a food processor to make a quick pesto. As I do with all my extra pesto made from basil or garlic scapes, I’ll make pesto cubes in ice cube trays to freeze for later.
Choosing varieties for planting arugula
There are several different types of arugula and they all have varying leaf shapes. In North America, the two common types tend to be Diplotaxis tenuifolia and Eruca sativa.
Wild arugula (Diplotaxis tenuifolia), known as Rucola or baby leaf rocket, tends to have more serrated leaves as they mature. They resemble dandelions a little. This is the perennial I have in my garden. And it will continue to reappear each spring. The harvest can be extended into winter if you have a cold frame or you can protect plants with a cloche.
Cultivated annual arugula (Eruca sativa) tends to have rounder leaves and a mild flavor. Bolting is inevitable as the hot weather appears. Succession planting can extend your harvesting opportunities.
Planting arugula from seed
Annual arugula is one of those cool-weather crops you can sow in the garden while it’s still early spring—when the soil can be worked. The soil temperature should be around 40°F to 50°F (4°C to 12°C).
Perennial arugula can be started indoors about two to four weeks before the last frost date, or outdoors once the soil warms up. Either way, seeds are exceptionally slow to germinate. The first year I grew perennial arugula in the garden, I didn’t think the seeds germinated at all. But then in the early summer I saw them starting to grow under plants that grow tall, like tomatoes and kale.
If you start arugula seeds indoors, be sure to harden off your seedlings before planting them in the garden.
Sow seeds in an area of the garden or a container that gets full sun (to part shade). Soil should be loose and well draining. Amend the area well with compost.
Arugula seeds are very tiny. They only need to be sown about a quarter of an inch deep. I make a very minor indent in the soil so I sow in a straight line, and then sprinkle soil overtop. Once the seeds germinate and you start to see seedlings forming, thin so that the plants are about four to six inches (10 to 15 cm) apart.
Be careful when watering as you don’t want to wash the seeds away. However the soil does need to remain moist until germination. Lightly misting works well until seeds have germinated and there is a root holding them down.
Annual arugula can take anywhere from seven to 10 days to germinate, but perennial arugula requires patience and is much slower to germinate.
Staggering and succession planting arugula seeds
Stagger your spring sowing by planting arugula seeds every couple of weeks starting in early spring.
Arugula is a great option for succession planting when some of your summer crops have been harvested. Since arugula becomes a bit of a fussbudget in the heat, wait until late summer (late August or early September) and then sow these cool-season seeds every couple of weeks. You can do this until about two to three weeks before your first frost.
I don’t tend to fertilize my arugula plants, but I will amend the soil with compost, even during the growing season.
Since arugula doesn’t mind cooler temperatures, it will continue to grow through the fall. It usually doesn’t mind a light frost. However, cover your crop when there is a threat of a killing frost to extend the harvest.
Harvesting arugula
Arugula grows outwards, like a star. New growth comes from the center of the plant like other greens. I treat this as a cut and come again salad green, rather than harvesting whole plants.
When harvesting, use garden scissors to trim individual leaves at their base. I usually take the older bottom leaves first, working my way to the smaller leaves at the top of the plant. Regular harvesting will actually encourage more growth.
The great thing about perennial arugula is I can harvest salads as early as April when the plants start to wake up in the spring.
Smaller arugula leaves tend to be milder. The longer they sit in the garden, the spicier they tend to become.
To store any harvested arugula you haven’t eaten right away, you can give the leaves a wash and a good spin in a salad spinner. Then, place them between a couple of pieces of paper towel and put in a plastic bag or ziplock for refrigerator storage.
Letting arugula go to seed
Annual arugula varieties will bolt in warm weather. Once this happens, flowers will appear, followed by slender seed pods. The flowers are edible with a similar peppery flavor, so they can be harvested and eaten if you don’t want to collect seeds. If you allow these pods to dry and open, you’ll have little seedlings coming up elsewhere in your garden. Otherwise, wait until they start to dry and then collect them in a dry paper bag.
Perennial arugula isn’t as fussy and will not bolt at the first sign of hot weather. It will continue to sprout new growth in the summer and go to seed in the fall.
Potential arugula pests
Depending on where you live, slugs and snails can make short work of arugula leaves. Flea beetles are common pests, which can become an issue. They’ll leave tons of little holes in arugula leaves. And being a member of the Brassica family, arugula is also vulnerable to cabbage moths that are laying their eggs on their favorite vegetables.
Floating row cover can help protect your plants, but it needs to be used from the beginning of the growing season. I add floating row cover to a raised bed that has lots of different greens and root vegetables, like beets and carrots in early spring. It helps to keep the flea beetles, as well as cabbage loopers away from my crops. Companion plants can also help lure beneficial insects that will take care of pests like flea beetles.
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