This plant is called Eruca by the Romans
and also the Greeks wrote about it in medical texts in the first century. Arugula
plant is actually an ancient leafy vegetable that is currently a favorite of
chefs around the globe. This particular plant is a special item in the lettuce
section of your grocery that can be costly. If you are growing this plant from seed
is very easy, either in the garden or in a pot on your balcony.
Growing Arugula in a
Container
This plant roots are relatively
shallow, which means you don't actually need a giant or deep container to grow
the Arugula plant. You can consider planting a fair amount of it once you get a
taste for it. Just try and pick a container that's wide, although this plant can
be grown in almost anything, try and use a self-watering container, it will really
make the whole task a lot easier.
How to plant Arugula
Seeds
This plant seeds are tiny, try and be
very careful not to plant them too deep. Make sure you plant the pot in full
sun or for a longer season, also give the plant a mid-day shade.
Make sure you fill your garden pot up
with potting mix, and then you need to gently flatten it out with your hand.
Make sure you distribute the seeds as
uniformly as possible onto the potting mix. You can use your palm to gently pat
the seeds onto the soil.
Also make sure you cover them lightly
with potting soil or you can put a thin layer of seed starting mix over the
seeds.
Make sure you add water carefully, you
can either use a rose attachment or a gentle spray from the hose.
Furthermore, make sure you plant the arugula
seeds as soon as danger of frost is over, and you can begin to sow once a week
or every 2 weeks to keep a constant supply. This plant does not actually love
hot weather and it can get quite bitter if it is grown when it's steamy
outside.
Make sure you keep the soil evenly
moist until seedlings emerge, this may actually take seven to fourteen days. If
seedlings are about 1 inch or 2 tall, you can thin them so they can be 1 to 3
inches apart. The young leaves are the tenderest.
How to harvest Arugula
Under normal condition the arugula plant
should be full grown and ready to be harvest in about 3 to 4 weeks. Make sure
you don’t wait too long to start picking them, because the younger the leaves,
the more tender they are and the more sweet they will be.
You can either pull out the whole
plant or thin them out once the seedlings are three to four inches long. By peradventure
if you actually want the plants to continue to grow, you can collect just the
leaves either by cutting or tearing them off toward the base. Don’t forget that
if you pull out the plants, the dirt can get on the leaves.
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