Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: mushroom on August 02, 2007, 09:06

Title: Salad rocket query
Post by: mushroom on August 02, 2007, 09:06

Hi,

Should I be preventing rocket from flowering, in order to have cut-and-come-again production of leaves? How much leaf is it safe to take without maiming the plant?

I have 7 plants, they are bushy but all seem to be producing flowers. Should I let it flower? Won't the leaves become bitter?

cheers

Title: OK ...
Post by: wellingtons on August 02, 2007, 09:45

... what colour flowers have got?  If you're talking about the small leaved, yellow flowered rocket, you can let it flower and still harvest the leaves, but it gets hotter and more peppery once it's flowered.  If the flowers are white, the leaves tend to become more bitter than hot.

But the hot peppery leaves on a cold roast beef sandwich are just divine!

Title: Re: OK ...
Post by: mushroom on August 02, 2007, 09:55

Quote from: "wellingtons"

... what colour flowers have got?

They've just emerged, so they're kinda green  :shock:  :lol:
Need to wait a few days methinks. It's so fast in this warmth you can almost hear it grow :!:

Title: Salad rocket query
Post by: splodger on August 02, 2007, 11:11

i let mine flower - i have a rocket bed - it self seeds - goes mad infact - as welli said - it gets more peppery (i have the wild rocket )

Title: Salad rocket query
Post by: mushroom on August 02, 2007, 20:32

Hi Wellingtons, the flowers are white! dunno what variety it is, just got in having been at the allotment all day  :D but their flowers are definitely white. Should I pinch the flowers for now? I ate a leaf, it was nice but I'd like it to become more horseradishy hot. What do you think?

Splodger, yes it is going mad  8) I mean the growth is really noticeable in 24 hrs. I'm watering them every day. Should I feed it to get more leaves? What should I feed it?

Title: Salad rocket query
Post by: muntjac on August 02, 2007, 20:41

1 hit it with the garden shear half way up the plants . feed with liquid feed 1/4 pint to a gallon . stop picking end  sept if you want it to seed  :wink:

Title: Salad rocket query
Post by: mushroom on August 02, 2007, 22:43

cheers for that tip, muntjac. I shall pinch them out tomorrow. I guess the feed doesn't want to be tomato feed, but a general purpose one?

Title: Salad rocket query
Post by: muntjac on August 02, 2007, 22:52

yups . tom feed contains a surplus of chemicals ,magnesium i think is one of em ,got a brain problem now so cant remember the formula .... any manure water will do  :wink: