Rocket / arugula

1. 1

   Pick garden or wild rocket

   Garden rocket (Eruca vesicaria): smooth oval leaves, fast-growing (3 weeks to pick), milder flavour, true annual — bolts after 4–6 weeks. The salad-bag rocket. Wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia): deeply-cut narrow leaves, slower (5–6 weeks to pick), hotter and more pungent flavour, perennial-ish (can re-grow from cut roots for a season), more bolt-resistant. Esmee and Buzz are popular garden-rocket varieties; Wild Rocket is sold as the wild type. For a first crop: garden rocket (Esmee or basic packet) — quickest reward.

2. 2

   Sow direct, March to September

   Cool-season preference: best in spring (March–May) and autumn (August–September). Skip the hot weeks (mid-June to mid-August) — heat triggers immediate bolting. Direct-sow in shallow drills 1 cm deep, 20 cm between rows. Germination in 5–10 days. For cut-and-come-again: thin to 5 cm; for mature plants: thin to 15 cm.

3. 3

   Sow successionally every 3 weeks

   The key to continuous rocket. Each sowing crops for 3–4 weeks then bolts. Fresh row every 3 weeks through the cool months for non-stop supply. Many UK kitchen gardens overlap rocket sowings with mizuna and mustard-greens for a diverse Asian-style salad.

4. 4

   Sow under cover in September for winter cropping

   The most useful UK growing window. A September sowing under a cloche, low polytunnel, or cold frame establishes before frosts and crops from October through to March. Wild rocket is particularly suited to under-cover winter cropping — slow steady growth, peppery flavour, no flea beetle issues in cold months.

5. 5

   Cover with insect mesh from sowing

   Flea beetle is the dominant rocket pest — small dark beetles that pepper leaves with pinprick shot-hole damage in warm weather. Fine insect mesh (1 mm mesh) over the row from sowing through cropping excludes flea beetle entirely. Mesh is essential for outdoor summer rocket; September–March crops generally escape flea beetle.

6. 6

   Cut whole rows cut-and-come-again

   Cut at 2–3 cm above the soil when leaves are 8–10 cm tall (3–4 weeks from sowing for garden rocket, 5–6 weeks for wild). The plant regrows in 7–10 days — repeat 3–4 times before final bolt. Use scissors for clean cuts that re-grow quickly; tearing damages the regrowth point. Eat fresh — rocket wilts in hours after picking and loses heat over a few days.

7. 7

   Water consistently

   Rocket bolts faster in drought. A weekly soak in dry spells keeps the leaves tender and the plant in leaf-production mode. Mulch with fine compost along the row to conserve moisture. Pot-grown rocket needs daily watering once growing.

8. 8

   Let some bolted plants flower for self-seeding

   Rocket flowers are edible — small four-petalled cream-yellow (garden rocket) or yellow (wild rocket) blooms with a stronger version of the leaf flavour. Let one or two bolted plants flower and set seed; the seeds drop and produce volunteer rocket the following year. The flowers are tasty in salads and garnishes — strong peppery punch, attractive on the plate.

Flea beetle can devastate seedlings; slugs also a problem.