When do i harvest arugula

If you prefer a milder version of arugula, harvest when the leaves are small. Baby arugula can be harvested just weeks after being planted.

This is usually 5 or more weeks after planting. Greens are always best to harvest at a cool time of day because they are quick to lose moisture and wilt after being picked. Morning is the best time to pick arugula, right after the dew has evaporated, but evening works as well.

Arugula can be harvested as a cut-and-come-again plant, or you can wait and harvest an entire plant all at once. The two are technically a little bit different. Let me explain:. You can harvest outer leaves first and cut or pinch them off right above the crown of the plant as close to the ground as possible.

Consistently harvesting from your plants actually encourages new growth, so pick leaves regularly. Anytime you do a large harvest, give your plants a few days to a week to recover.

If you have a longer growing season for example, if you live somewhere with mild summers or mild winters , you can delay flowering by practicing cut and come again harvesting.

Instead of plucking off individual leaves, actually cut the top portion off of the plant. Leave several inches of plant behind, but go ahead and cut the main stem and the young leaves attached to it. Arugula is a vigorous grower, so you only need to leave a few inches with leaves in order for it to grow back. This video from the San Diego Seed Company gives a fantastic illustration of the difference between these two harvesting techniques. As warm weather approaches, your plants will start to bolt, which means they send up a flower stalk and the leaves turn bitter.

Haha, okay, even more bitter. Before this happens, you may want to harvest the rest of your crop by simply picking whole plants out of your garden.

Every time I go out to eat with my parents at an Indian restaurant, they order their dishes with the highest level of spice. This tasty green can totally change your perspective on salad, like it did for me — a self-proclaimed salad-hater until I met arugula.

The two combine admirably. For more information on how to grow and harvest other cruciferous vegetables , check out these articles next:. See our TOS for more details. Originally published on January 30, Uncredited photos: Shutterstock. With additional writing and editing by Clare Groom and Allison Sidhu.

As a freelance writer, she contributes to several websites and blogs across the web. Are the leaves just too bitter in those areas, or too spicy, or why would you recommend not eating them? Hi Colleen! I had lots of those spiky stalks in my garden last year. Lots of super sunny, long Alaska days. I love the extra bitter bite used moderately on my salad or sandwich.

Mine has not yet flowered, but is super spicy and bitter…different tastes…. This is my first time ever growing arugula and first time ever having a backyard garden. I picked some of my leaves today and oh my goodness… I was blown away by the flavor, peppery with a horse-radish mustard taste to it. I left out the ones that were still a little green for fear they might mold the dry ones. Waiting for slightly cooler weather to replant.

I would like to grow my Arugula again and have let some seed pods grow on a flowered plant. At present the seeds inside are green. What is the quickest way to dry them to brown so I can plant again this season? Or will I need to wait till next season? What do you do with the soil afterwards? What is recommended to plant next? They have quick harvests. Plant every 10 to 14 days in between for an extended harvest.

Yes, the arugula will be most flavorful prior to the plant producing flowers, so ideally you should harvest the leaves up until they develop. Pinch flower buds off to prolong foliage growth and extend the harvest. My arugula is having some trouble. It's discolored yellow, purple-ish and is not growing very well. It is in a fabric container about 18" in diameter, in partial shade.

I'm wondering if it's a soil deficiency or over-watering? I'm in central Oregon, where we have cold nights and it's starting to warm up but it hasn't been too hot yet. Yes, absolutely, You can grow arugula indoors—and in a container. Skip to main content. You can wait to harvest leaves when they get larger, but harvesting the young leaves encourages the plant to continue producing new leaves for several months.

Pinch or cut the outer leaves with scissors just above the soil. You can cut up to one-third of the outer leaves at once or harvest a few leaves at a time. If you want to enjoy various flavor intensities, cut only smaller outer leaves, and leave the inner leaves to mature and develop a stronger flavor. Allow the arugula to develop new leaves from the cut areas, usually in only a few days, then cut more leaves as needed when the leaves reach at least a few inches tall.

Continue harvesting the leaves frequently over several months when the leaves reach at least 3 inches tall. Remember that without frequent harvesting, the arugula goes to seed and stops producing new leaves. Stop harvesting the small leaves when you notice decreased vigor or flavor in the leaves.