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hendi_alex
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Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina

Arugula - easy, nearly free succession planting

My wife and I love arugula. Year round it is blended in with salad mix and during the summer when too hot to grow lettuce here, becomes the primary green component in our fresh salads. We grow arugula 12 months per year here in zone 8 where is usually overwinters and even continuing to produce throughout the coldest months most years.

The overwintered arugula bolts very early in the season, and also arugula planted earlier than May tends to bolt fairly quickly as well. So this year I saved one or two of the winter plants and left them growing to produce seeds. The rest of the bed was replanted in arugula, has bolted, been pulled and yet a third crop is now just being harvest. The fourth crop is just breaking through the ground. Those plants will likely take us through the winter or perhaps I'll make one more planting in the fall for that purpose. Here is a photo of the beds. This time I didn't pay much attention to the seeding arugula and it dropped most of its seeds before catching my attention. I'll likely be more controlled in their release next year. But you wouldn't believe the number of seeds and self seeding that came from one or two arugula plants. We will be hand over fist in salad greens in a few weeks.

Old arugula plant in background allowed to reseed. Most seeds fell naturally to the right of the parent.
[img]https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2732/5800598494_0fc2436ca3_o.jpg[/img]

Third succession planting of the season, from commercial seeds. Just started harvesting this week.
[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3331/5800045293_a525d345e1_o.jpg[/img]

Adjacent bed where seeds fell. Will likely take plugs, just like a hair transplant and will space the plants out into other spaces.
[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3655/5800046181_763fbd5882_o.jpg[/img]

Still one bed further to the right. The seeds were harvested and scattered into this bed.
[img]https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3443/5800599470_515b652dfa_o.jpg[/img]

It is very easy to collect and save arugula seeds. I save mine in the freezer. May never have to buy seeds again. I use a similar technique to above for cilantro. I park a planter of cilantro by the bed or leave one plant in the bed so it can go to seed. When the seeds are ripe they are simply scattered in a bed or two. Last year such volunteer cilantro produced all through the winter and into the spring. Those same plants have now made seed which were scattered into two beds.

johnny123
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That is not food.
That's what food eats!!!!!

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soil
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Location: N. California

I tossed arugula seedballs out on our property a few years ago. I now have wild arugula that puts the store stuff to shame growing everywhere. it plants itself, grows itself, and doesn't need pest control. the flowers are beautiful in the spring too.

one of the things I like to use it for is arugula pesto.

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hendi_alex
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Location: Central Sand Hills South Carolina

Sounds like a great idea. I have two naturalized areas. Think I'll collect and broadcast seeds into both areas. The arugula is attractive to bees and butterflies, plus will displace some of the native weeds.

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gixxerific
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Location: Wentzville, MO (Just West oF St. Louis) Zone 5B

Gotta love that arugula.

gardenvt
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Arugula and spinach are my favorite greens. I would take arugula over spinach anyday.

Shall we come for lunch and help you with this wonderful bounty?

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jal_ut
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Location: Northern Utah Zone 5

Sounds like a weed. ;)

cynthia_h
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Location: El Cerrito, CA

It's a happy grower, true, but one that the local supermarket charges $6.00 a pound for! :shock: Which is when I finally got DH to *eat* it last winter....told him the price. We now have the stage of arugula shown in the first photo in Box #5, and happy young plants in Box #1.

Cynthia H.
Sunset Zone 17, USDA Zone 9



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