Wild Rocket
Wild Rocket is great to grow in the garden or herb patch on the allotment. It is perennial so will grow every year producing crops to use in your salads. Wild rocket is more peppery and fiery than the average rocket that you purchase in shops. To purchase wild rocket in shops is a lot more expensive but so easy to grow. So why not try growing your own? Wild Rocket is also known as a wall rocket.
There are many differences between the salad rocket and the wild rocket the leaves are a lot finer on the wild rocket than on the salad version. They are also a lot stronger in taste.
When using a wild rocket to eat you can use it in exactly the same way as the salad version but be warned it is a lot hotter in taste.
When planting a wild rocket (Wall rocket) plant it in a dry shady spot – ideally near a wall – hence the name it gets.
Keep picking the wild rocket often and it will soon grow new leaves on it to eat. Trim it back in autumn for another great harvest the year after. Find out how to grow a wild rocket below.
Allotment and Kitchen Garden Book
Are you starting an allotment or planning on growing your own fruit, vegetables, herbs, and flowers in a kitchen garden? If so we highly recommend the book Allotment Month By Month. This does exactly what it does on the cover to help you with what you should be doing in the allotment and kitchen garden each month. Below you can see the link for Amazon where you can purchase the book directly. This book is extremely popular with all allotment holders as you will read in the reviews:-
You can check out all the allotment and kitchen garden books we recommend here.
How to grow Wild Rocket and Salad Rocket
Rocket is an extremely hardy leaf that can be added to your favorite salad bowls to add that extra peppery taste to it. This will certainly make a salad bowl tastier. You can grow this in pots or straight in the ground – the choice is yours. If you grow salad rocket in bowls you can move it into the greenhouse as it gets cooler to keep it growing for longer.
Sowing Rocket
To sow rocket you can grow it in soil that is well drained. It needs to be either in full sun or partial sun to help it grow. When you decide to sow rocket you are best starting it off in a greenhouse as it is warmer and it will germinate faster.
You can sow rocket from the end of February as long as it is in a greenhouse and warm to help it germinate. If you are sowing outdoors sow from June when the chance of frost has passed. You can sow rocket up until September for late crops.
Growing Rocket
Once your seeds have germinated and are big enough for transplanting you can now look at potting them up if you are growing in seed trays. If you have sown the rocket seeds outdoors space the plants at around 10-15cm so they have room to grow and keep them weed-free.
Looking after Rocket
As the rocket is growing keep the plants moist and well-watered when the weather is hot and dry. If you see any flower buds appearing on the rocket pinch them out to stop them from setting to seed. If you do want them to set to seed leave a couple of plants so that the seeds spread and more plants grow. If you are growing them in the ground be careful they don’t all set to seed and take over your garden.
Harvesting Rocket
The best part of growing something is harvesting it. To harvest rocket, all you need to do is just pinch off the leaves as and when you require some for your salad. You will be picking it up for weeks over the summer. If you pick the rocket leaves while they are young the leaves have a much milder taste.
Pests that affect rocket
The only pest which likes to attack rocket is the flea beetle. The way you can prevent this is by growing the rocket under fleece. This will protect them from the flea beetle.
Problems that affect Rocket
Rocket can be affected if you grow it too close together. Make sure that you thin it out and have the right spacing between them ideally 10-15cm. If you leave them to close together they will often go to seed and flower.
Rocket can also bolt. Make sure you keep it watered in dry and hot weather. If you don’t keep it watered your rocket can often taste bitter.
Purchase Rocket
Rocket can be purchased here on our site. We recommend some good varieties to try and grow.
Wild Rocket:- The one below is wild rocket – this one is the stronger tasting leaves. This one is a great one to try and grow.
Salad Rocket:– If you are wanting to purchase the salad rocket seeds which you often see in supermarkets this is the variety that you are wanting to grow.
We hope you have found this useful for growing Wild Rocket and Salad Rocket. You can find more hints and tips on growing herbs, fruit, and vegetables here.
