Fennel

johnp 2/16/2013, 8:57 am

I am going to try growing fennel this year for the first time. I looked it up and i found that that the seeds need to soak for four days and that it does not transplant well. If this is true rhen I guess you plant after the frost date. Also it said that the plants grow 5 ft. tall. It also said 4" apart so would that mean 4 per square? Any comments would help.

Pepper 2/16/2013, 12:31 pm

$glad you\'re here$ johnp to the forum. I had tried a transplant last summer but it did not do well. Then in the fall I planted several seeds directly in MM (mel's mix); thinking this will never work they are a warm climate plant. We have had a really mild winter, with only a few frosts. These have over wintered, not really large but still growing.
Fennel P2023411

Best of luck with them

johnp 2/16/2013, 5:46 pm

Thnks Pepper for the photo it helps. If that is a 4x box it looks like about two per square or if it's a 2x box it looks like four per. Do you really soak the seeds for four days? Thanks again.

Pepper 2/16/2013, 11:02 pm

Like I said I really did not think they would grow; they were planted in mid October from seed. It is a 4x bed, I sowed 2 rows at a 6in spacing between each plant down the center of each row. This variety is said to get 16 inches tall so I gave them room.

Pepper 2/16/2013, 11:05 pm

opps no I did not presoak the seed. And it looks like I may have planted more than my chart shows; probally 3 rows of plants using the first two feet of the box. All my beds are 4x8.

plantoid 2/17/2013, 6:38 pm

johnp wrote:I am going to try growing fennel this year for the first time. I looked it up and i found that that the seeds need to soak for four days and that it does not transplant well. If this is true rhen I guess you plant after the frost date. Also it said that the plants grow 5 ft. tall. It also said 4" apart so would that mean 4 per square? Any comments would help.

John , use a toilet roll core tube cut to give two small cylinders , wrap some sticky tape round them to stop them coming undone .
Fill with fine vermiculite whilst they are stood on a tray , sow eac with two fennel seeds pour a couple of pints of warm rain water in the tray and they will germinate quite well with out presoaking .

Every other day or so see if the vermiculite is drying out if so re soak from below as before .

When the plants are three inches high soak the tube for 1/2 hr and gently slide the vermiculite and plants out onto a saucer . Use a spoon to gently lift the plant without damaging the fine root or the stem of the plant and slip it into a prewatered hole in MM .
Water it in and use the spoon to move some MM towards the hole , water this in .
Last year I produced 17 fennel bulbs by doing it this way .

Pepper 2/17/2013, 7:06 pm

johnp here is another thread you may be interested in within this forum
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t7836-friday-rookie-topic-ix-fennel

johnp 2/21/2013, 5:22 pm

Thanks for all the suggestions. I went to that link which helped a lot.

bnoles 2/21/2013, 7:25 pm

Great info folks! I want to try fennel really bad and this thread is very helpful.

johnp 8/11/2013, 10:08 am

For a recipe we are making tonight it calls for ground fennel. All I could find in the store were fennel seeds so I presume we grind these. Also it calls for a half of fennel bulb. I pulled two plants (first time grower) and the part above the bulb root is the part you use. What I read was that when it bolts it is no longer good. Well all mine have bolted. Can some tell me if they are still useable?

**camprn** 8/11/2013, 11:05 am

Yes you can, but it may be woody.

**sanderson** 7/16/2017, 1:59 am

This may be an old thread but the name says it all. Take a look at these tall mature fennel plants in an English herb/ Fairy garden. It is part of an natural fragrance hippy shop in Cambria near the Pacific coast. They sell potpourri, soaps, soils, lotions, Renee's seeds, etc. Ken is almost 6 feet tall.

Fennel Fennel10

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	Hello Guest! Welcome to the official Square Foot Gardening Forum. There's lots to learn here by reading as a guest. However, if you become a member (it's free, ad free and spam-free) you'll have access to our large vermiculite databases, our seed exchange spreadsheets, Mel's Mix calculator, and many more members' pictures in the Gallery. Enjoy.