Arugula
Rocket, Rucola, Garden Rocket, Italian Cress, Roquette, Gaden Eruca, Rocket Salad, Rocketsalad
One of the fastest salad greens — harvest as baby leaves in 25 days or mature leaves in 40 days. Spicy peppery flavor intensifies in heat. Bolt quickly in warm weather; succession sow every 3 weeks. Tolerates light frost. Cut-and-come-again: leave 1" of growth and new leaves emerge. Flea beetles are the major pest — row covers provide excellent protection.
- Germination
- 4–10 days
- Soil temperature
- 4–21 °C
- Harvest after sowing
- 30–45 days
- Spacing
- 10–15 cm
When to plant arugula
Sow outdoors 2–4 weeks before your last spring frost.
Dashed line: typical last spring frost in zone 7 (Apr 5). Zone dates are averages; most of the UK is zone 8–9, central Europe 6–7 and the Baltics and Scandinavia 4–6. In the app, Tomatograph uses your garden's own frost dates.
How to grow arugula
- 1
Sow
Sow thinly in spring from 2–4 weeks before the last frost, and again in late summer. Seedlings appear in 4–10 days.
- 2
Keep sowing
Rocket bolts quickly in warm weather, so sow a little every three weeks.
- 3
Cover
Flea beetles riddle the leaves with holes; a fine mesh or fleece cover stops them.
- 4
Harvest
Cut baby leaves from 25 days or mature leaves from about 40. Leave 2–3 cm and it regrows. Flavour gets hotter in heat.
Growing conditions
Light
Partial sun
Water
Medium water
Temperature
2–22 °C
Frost tolerance
Frost-hardy — tolerates frost
Days to maturity
25–45 days
Ideal soil pH
7–7.5
How Tomatograph watches your arugula
Tomatograph checks your local forecast every morning and only speaks up when one of these applies to your garden.
- First frost within 14 daysReminder to mulch the roots before winter.
- 3 days at 35 °C or aboveHeat-wave alert while plants are flowering or fruiting: shade and water early.
- Humidity above 80% for 48 hoursCheck for downy mildew, which thrives in those conditions.
- Within a week of maturityHarvest-window reminder based on when you planted.
Arugula questions
- When should I plant arugula?
- Sow outdoors 2–4 weeks before your last spring frost.
- How long do arugula seeds take to germinate?
- Usually 4–10 days at a soil temperature of 4–21 °C.
- How long until I can harvest arugula?
- About 30–45 days after sowing, depending on variety and weather.
- How far apart should I plant arugula?
- Allow 10–15 cm between plants.
- What grows well with arugula?
- Good neighbours include lettuce, radish, spinach.
Growing guide written by Tomatograph. Planting figures from openplantdb (CC0 1.0). Zone frost dates are averages from openplantdb (CC0 1.0).