Eruca vesicaria (Brassicaceae Family)
Vegetable (Cool Season) – Salad Greens
Also known as Roquette, Rocket
This fast-growing cool-season salad green – often ready to harvest as early as 4 weeks after seeding – adds a tangy, peppery or mustard-like flavor to salads and mesclun mixes.
Growing information
- Propagate by seed
- Germination temperature: 40 F to 55 F
- Days to emergence: 5 to 7
- Seed can be saved 5 years.
Seeds germinate quickly even in cold soil. Plant as soon as soil can be worked in spring.
Avoid planting after other cabbage family crops.
Plant ¼ inch deep and 1 inch apart in rows, or broadcast alone or mixed with other greens. Gradually thin to 6-inch spacings using thinnings for salads.
Make new plantings every 2 to 3 weeks for a continuous supply until about a month before your average first frost date.
Slow bolting by reducing heat and moisture stress. Provide some shade for warm-season plantings.
Fast-growing plants are good for intercropping and relay cropping.
Often self-seeds. Is self-sterile and requires insects for pollination. Will not cross with other members of the mustard family.
Pests
Flea beetles
Diseases
Downy mildew
Varieties
Browse arugula varieties at our Vegetable Varieties for Gardeners website.
‘Sylvetta’ is actually a different species, Diplotaxis tenuifolia. It is slower growing, half as tall, and slower to bolt, and has smaller, more deeply lobed leaves, yellow flowers and more pungent taste.