Grow Your Own Magazine

Hi does anyone have any experience of growing fennel, I have been asking around and no one seems to know if it grows above or below ground, do I need to push the soil up like with leeks and stuff

Hi Spikeybell and welcome to the vine.

I presume you mean florence fennel. I believe it grows on top of the ground as it is the swollen stem of the plant.

I don't think they need earthing up.

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Bright Blessings
Earthbabe
If at first you don't succeed, open a bottle of wine.

Lesley grows it and rates it highly. I reckon she'll be along soon to let you know. I don't think she earths up.

Welcome to the grapevine, source of all knowledge (some of it quite surprising!)

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Earth laughs in flowers. Ralph Waldo Emerson

www.vegheaven.blogspot.com

Updated November 17th - The Big Dig

I grew it last year for the first time - no problems, although it was (methinks) very late for sowing it - around late July (you can just see the seedlings in Dexters photo).
Sow mid spring to mid summer. They should germinate after 2 weeks at 10C. If sowing outside thin to 12" apart (rows 6" apart). They take 10 - 12 weeks to maturity.
Otherwise plant out when the seedlings have 3 - 4 leaves and water regularly. Mulch is good. Harvest when the bulb is the size of an apple, cutting it to leave a 1" stump to produce leafy sideshoots for flavouring. Good luck! Do give it a try! Bernie

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Appreciate the little things in life because one day you will realise they are the big things

thanks for the advice I look forward to what lesley has to say

Lesley
Thanks so much for the advice, I put the seeds in a few weeks ago and luckily not that many came up but I did thin then last week and was a bit worried that they would die, but they seem to be coming on great, after trying root vegetables last year I found the antisipation of waiting to see what was going on underground too much... I tended to pull everything too early... so to keep me from pulling up veg too soon, I wanted to grow above ground veg, so glad to hear that I will be able to see what is going on with the fennel.

On the pulling veg too soon thread, how do you know when to pull up potatoes?

Grew it once, it all matured at the same time(must have been an F1 variety)

I had loads and didn't know what to do with it.


As Lesley says, it needs the soil to be warm but is very quick growing. If it has a check in growth in any way it has a tendency to run to seed!

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My Majesty made for him a garden anew in order
to present to him vegetables and all beautiful flowers.- Offerings of Thutmose III to Amon-Ra (1500 BCE)

what feed do you use Lesley? I'm growing fennel for the first time this year.

I used to frow it in the old days. Pretty easy once it gets going.

This year I started them in a seed bed, not pots (fool) & didn't have the space to move them til a couple of days ago

Anyone out there had experience of transplanting them?

do they all bolt or have a got a chanceof some decent bulbs?

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Jane