Everything you need to know about growing arugula
Growing arugula is a great way to add variety to your summer salads without a lot of hassle. Arugula is the first salad green that will ripen, so it’s perfect to use in salads for those early summer gatherings. Arugula is also not sensitive to frost, which means you don’t have to worry about a late frost hitting and ruining your crop.
To begin growing arugula, you’ll need to start with seed. Just sprinkle the seeds into your garden. Plant them about an inch apart, making sure that your rows are at least a foot apart. After the seeds are down, just sprinkle them with a little bit of dirt to cover them and then water them. You may start to see sprouts in as little as a few days, although it can take over a week for arugula seeds to sprout. The best time of year to plant them is in the early spring. You’ll want to aim for a month in which the average temperature falls between 40 and 55 degrees. You should also choose an area that is partially shaded to protect your arugula when they start to sprout. If you live in a cooler climate, then full sun will work for your arugula plants.
If you live in a temperate climate where the weather doesn’t get too hot, then you may want to keep a solid supply of arugula growing in your garden all season long. The best way to do this is to plant new seeds about every three weeks. This will ensure that every time you pick arugula, you’ll have more in about a month.
Growing arugula year after year is very simple, and you don’t even need to keep buying seed. It’s very easy to make sure your arugula reseeds itself after each growing season. Just allow the plants to flower. When the flowers fall off the plants, the seeds inside them will go into the ground and begin your cycle of growing arugula all over again. If you don’t want to let your arugula plants reseed themselves, then it is possible to pick up the flowers after they fall and pull the seeds out of them. Just make sure you seal them tightly in a bag so they are fresh for next season.
Your arugula plants won’t need a whole lot of upkeep. You will need to weed around the regularly. Make sure the soil drains well and use compost before you plant the seeds. Fertilizer will also help your arugula thrive. It tolerates a wide variety of soil conditions, so it’s a pretty easy plant to grow. Pests and diseases are also very rare with arugula, so it’s practically a maintenance-free plant.
Arugula matures in a little over a month. You’ll know it’s ready to harvest when the leaves are young and tender. Make sure you harvest your arugula plants before the weather gets too warm outside, or your greens will become very bitter-tasting.