Arugula (arugula) or Indau, is a herb from the Cabbage family with a rich spicy taste. Due to the high content of vitamins, macro- and microelements, this green annual is cultivated in most European countries, America, Asia and Russia. From the article you will learn which variety of arugula to choose for your summer cottage, how to properly grow a plant from seeds.
Brief description of the plant
Arugula is a compact plant 30-60 cm high with a slightly pubescent branchy stem. Depending on the variety, the leaves can be either large and fleshy or medium, thin and tender. In wild plants, they are narrower and elongated. The lower lyre leaves form a rosette.
Arugula is grown both in the southern regions and the middle lane, and in places with a rather harsh climate.
Indau blooms in May-July with yellow or white flowers with purple veins. The shape of the flower is obovate, slightly notched. The plant is considered a good honey plant. The fruit is a xiphoid pod, inside which there are light brown seeds in 2 rows.
How to choose arugula variety?
If you want to harvest fragrant greens as early as possible, choose early maturing varieties that have a 3-week growing season. Mid-season varieties will take about 1-1.5 months to build up green mass.
To make vitamin greens delight in your favorite dishes longer, plant arugula at several times with an interval of 2 weeks. The following varieties of Indau sowing have proven themselves best:
- Poker - mid-early variety, biological ripeness occurs 35-40 days after germination. The height of the plant can reach 60-70 cm, the diameter of the rosette is 20 cm. The peculiarity of the variety is the mustard-olive flavor of the leaves and their high commercial qualities. Poker is suitable for winter sowing.
- Sicily - a frost-resistant mid-season variety, the growing season of which is 28-30 days. Greens are bright green in color, with a pronounced nutty taste. The height of the bush does not exceed 60 cm, the diameter of the rosette is 12-15 cm. Sicily can withstand frosts down to -6 degrees without losing the quality of the green mass, in case of extreme heat and drought, it starts up arrows.
- Rococo - early salad culture with a strong spicy-pungent aroma. The variety is distinguished by its wide dark green leaves. The height of the rosette does not exceed 20 cm. The plant is fruitful, resistant to cold. Harvesting is carried out 3-4 weeks after germination.
- Corsica - mid-season variety, greens are ready for use a month after the first shoots. Leaves are smooth, lyre-shaped, dark green in color. The rosette reaches 60-65 cm in height. Corsica has a nut-mustard aftertaste and a delicate spicy aroma. The variety quickly shoots with a lack of moisture in extreme heat conditions.
- Koltivata - a Dutch high-yielding variety of salad rocket. The plant is early ripening, the leaves can be eaten 2 weeks after the first shoots. The bush is compact, the height of the rosette is about 20-25 cm. The leaves are large, rounded, cream-colored flowers.
- Spartacus - an early ripe variety bred for cultivation in the open field. The growing season of the plant is 20-25 days. Leaves are smooth, oval, medium in size. The rosette is slightly raised, reaches a height of 60 cm. The taste is spicy and pleasant.
- Dikovina Is a fast growing green crop with a growing season of about 2 weeks from germination. The leaves are lyre-shaped, dense and juicy. The bush is up to 22 cm high. The taste of young leaves is spicy and spicy.
grade "Poker"
grade "Sicily"
grade "Rococo"
variety "Corsica"
variety "Koltivata"
grade "Spartak"
grade "Dikovina"
Dates of sowing arugula seeds in open ground
Outdoors, Indau seeds are sown in April and August. The plant loves warmth, therefore, when planting in spring, you should wait until the air temperature reaches 8-10 degrees. Under favorable weather conditions, the sprouts hatch already 3-5 days after sowing the seeds.
Returning cold will not damage young seedlings, since the Indau without shelter tolerates short-term frosts down to -6 degrees.
In August, arugula should be sown when the summer heat subsides. For the western regions, this is the first decade of the month, for the more southern regions - the second and third. Experienced gardeners note that greens planted in spring have more juicy crisp leaves. When planted in autumn, the green mass is more voluminous, but not as juicy.
Rules for planting a plant in the garden
The plant does not tolerate too bright sun, so you should not choose open areas. An ideal option would be an area where it will be sunny until lunchtime, and in hot midday hours there is diffused shadow.
Rucola is not demanding on the soil, but it grows better in areas with light, well-fertilized soil with a neutral reaction. Acidic clay soils are not suitable for planting salad greens, so they must first be deoxidized with lime.
You should not choose areas with a high groundwater table, since waterlogging of the root system significantly increases the risk of fungal diseases.
Seed preparation
In order to get friendly Indau shoots in 5 days, the seeds should be prepared in a certain way before sowing. By purchasing seed in specialized stores from well-known manufacturers, you can be sure of their quality. Most often they have already been processed, so there is no need to decontaminate them.
Some gardeners prefer to buy seeds from their hands in the market or from neighbors. In this case, they should be disinfected without fail. Presowing seed dressing is carried out using a 3% hydrogen peroxide solution:
- heat the peroxide to 40 degrees;
- fill the seeds with the solution for 7-10 minutes;
- drain the solution;
- dry the seeds on a napkin.
If the quality of the seeds is suspicious, they can be germinated before sowing:
- soak the seed in Epin's solution for 2 hours;
- spread the seeds on a damp cloth and wrap;
- place the package in a container and close it with a lid;
- remove the homemade greenhouse in a warm place.
With this method of germination, the seeds hatch after a couple of days, after which they can be sown into the soil.
Soil preparation
The soil in the area where the rucola will be planted is prepared in the fall. First, dig well and remove the weeds. Add 3 kg of compost, 15-20 g of potassium chloride and 20 g of superphosphate per sq. m. Dig up the area again and pour water over it.
In early spring, urea is introduced into the soil at the rate of 15 g per sq. In areas with high acidity of the soil, it is necessary to add 300-500 g of quicklime per sq. m for deoxidation. Immediately before planting, the soil is loosened and leveled.
Planting arugula in open ground
The scheme for planting arugula in open ground is not much different from the methods of sowing any other greenery:
- In the prepared area, make grooves no more than 1.5 cm deep and thoroughly pour water on them.
- Leave the distance between the rows about 30 cm.
- Sow seeds at a distance of 5 cm from each other.
- Sprinkle soil over the beds and tamp it lightly.
- If there is a high probability of recurrent frost, cover crops at night with plastic foil, remembering to remove it during the day.
Good and bad predecessors
Arugula is best grown after vegetable crops such as potatoes, peas, pumpkin, carrots, or tomatoes. It is not recommended to occupy the beds for planting greenery, where radish, turnip, cabbage, horseradish grew before. Arugula should be returned to its original place no earlier than after 4 years.
Arugula care after planting
Arugula is an unpretentious plant, so if it is properly planted, you will not need to spend too much time caring for it. All you need to do is provide the young greens with ample watering, remove weeds regularly and loosen the soil.
After the emergence of seedlings, it is necessary to thin out the planting. When 2 true leaves appear, remove excess shoots, leaving a distance of 5-7 cm. Perform the next thinning at the stage of forming 4 true leaves. The distance between future bushes should remain about 15 cm.
Temperature
The optimum temperature for the development of Indau is 18-20 degrees. With lower thermometer readings, the plant slows down its growth and development, the growing season is significantly extended.
In the event of prolonged frosts, it is necessary to immediately build a shelter made of plastic wrap or any other covering material over the beds.
Too high air temperature also negatively affects the vegetation of the plant. Bushes can bloom prematurely, especially varieties that are not resistant to shooting.
In addition, an increased temperature during active growth of green mass leads to a decrease in its taste. Rucola leaves lose their juiciness, become rough and tasteless. This problem can be solved by stretching a special shading film over the area.
Watering
Rucola is a moisture-loving plant, therefore it requires frequent abundant watering. The soil in the root area should always be moist, but the water should not stagnate. The plant does not tolerate waterlogging. In regions with hot summers, watering is carried out daily, in cooler conditions - 3-4 times a week.
With a lack of moisture, Indau leaves acquire bitterness and become unsuitable for human consumption.
Weeding and loosening
In order for oxygen and moisture to better penetrate the root zone, the soil around the bushes should be loosened regularly. It is easier to do this directly after watering, using a hoe or horn. A mandatory measure is the removal of weeds, which thicken the plantings, and some also negatively affect the taste of salad greens.
Try to remove weeds by the root, otherwise they will soon appear again. If you are not a frequent visitor to your summer cottage, mulch the beds with hay or grass. This will not only inhibit the growth of weeds, but will also help retain moisture in the root zone for longer.
Top dressing
In matters of the need to make fertilizing for planting arugula, experts have different opinions. The fact is that the plant quite actively absorbs nitrates and other substances harmful to humans from the soil. Since the Indau has a short growing season, the accumulated toxins do not have time to fully decompose.
If you have prepared the site in advance before planting greenery, then the fertilizer applied is quite enough for a bountiful harvest. On poor soils with poor development of the bushes, you can use a solution of chicken manure in a ratio of 1:10 for feeding.
What is the problem with rucola?
Arugula is susceptible to some fungal diseases, especially if the plant is not properly cared for. The main ones are:
- Fusarium. The diseased plant begins to chlorosis, then whitish spots appear on the leaves, the turgor decreases. Over time, the leaves begin to dry out, the stem darkens, and the aerial part completely dies off. Fusarium cannot be cured, so the affected bushes are removed and burned.
- Peronosporosis. The appearance of a fungal disease is evidenced by the appearance of red-brown dry spots on the upper part of the leaves. Below you can see a weakly expressed mealy bloom. Leaves wrinkle and dry out. Fungicide treatments do not give the desired result, so the affected bushes should be removed.
- Verticillary wilting. The fungus enters the plant through small cracks, which often form after root damage during loosening of the soil. In the initial stages, the disease does not manifest itself. During the period of active growth of the green mass, yellow and whitish spots appear on the leaves, which quickly spread throughout the plant. An affected rucola bush can wither completely in 1 day. If you notice signs of illness, immediately remove the plant from the garden and burn it.
The essential oils present in the leaves of the plant repel many pests. But sometimes rucola can fall prey to cruciferous flea beetles and cabbage moths. The first is capable of severely damaging young Indau greens, leaving small holes in it. To combat the pest, plantings are covered with any garden nonwoven material. As a preventive measure, you can sprinkle the bushes with wood ash.
The moth also loves to feast on fresh, spicy foliage. Arugula can be protected from it using folk methods by treating the plants with wormwood tincture. To prepare it, grind the wormwood and boil for 10 minutes in a little water. Cool and dilute with water in a 1: 1 ratio.
Harvesting greens
Cut off young arugula leaves as they grow, choosing the widest and longest. Harvest regularly, without overexposing the leaves on the bush, as they become tougher over time. The optimum length of a leaf that has reached ripeness is 8-10 cm.
After the beginning of flowering, the taste of salad greens is noticeably reduced. Some gardeners recommend removing the buds to lengthen the harvest period a bit. Arugula is consumed fresh, so it fully retains all its vitamins. Greens can be stored in the refrigerator for no more than 4 days.
Collecting arugula seeds
Long daylight hours and insufficient watering contribute to the fact that arugula quickly sheds color. Having left a few flowering plants in the garden at the end of July, by the beginning of autumn you will be able to collect ripe green seeds. It is recommended to store them in glass containers or special bags with a Zip-Lock fastener. The shelf life of Indau seeds without loss of germination is 3-4 years.
Arugula is an easy-to-grow plant that requires abundant watering and frequent loosening. If properly planted, you will get a rich crop of spicy greens without any additional feeding. By sowing seeds at several times, you will have a healthy vitamin salad on your table all summer.