fennel care

scientific name Foeniculum vulgarefennel is an herbaceous plant from the parsley and carrot family that has a long tradition as medicinal plant and culinary seasoning in Mediterranean cuisine.

Used in ancient times by the ancient Egyptians and Chinese, its tradition as a medicinal plant traveled to Europe thanks to the first merchants, where its use gained popularity and mysticism until it was attributed supposed magical properties in the Middle Ages. In fact, it was hung over the doors of homes to keep evil spirits away.

Today fennel is very popular as flavoring for your particular taste, reminiscent of anise, and is often used to season fish and eggs. The plant has its origin in the Mediterranean area, in southern Europe, although it is already widespread throughout much of the world.

The fennel plant, despite being herbaceous, can grow considerably, reaching up to 2 meters high when planted outdoors in favorable conditions. Another reason why its cultivation is so popular in gardens around the world is that this bulbous plant is very useful for attract insects such as ladybugs, very beneficial for the orchard and garden due to their ability to keep dangerous pests such as aphids at bay.

Y when does fennel bloom? The most common is to see its pretty yellow flowers in late summer, formed in fairly open clusters. Its cultivation is possible both from seed and from the bulb itself, although the latter is much more common due to its greater speed, giving rise to a plant in only between 3 and 6 months.

Discover more information about herbaceous plants: characteristics and examples in this other post.

If you are wondering if fennel is for sun or shade, we bring you the answer. In the event that you have planted the fennel in a pot, keep in mind that this plant needs a sunny location, tolerating direct incidence without any problem, which is common in its natural environment. Find him a place where he receives several hours of sunshine per daywithout worrying about direct sun.

The same thing happens if your fennel plant goes to the garden or the orchard: the main thing is that it will receive as much light as possible. Of course, try to save at least a few 30cm distance between floors different, since as we have mentioned, it has a very important growth capacity to take into account.

Visit this other link of Plants and flowers perfect for very sunny gardens.

Although it may not seem like it, the climate is one of the most important cares for fennel. As a Mediterranean plant that it is, fennel grows much better in temperate climates, preferably with temperatures between 15 and 23 ºC. Although it can tolerate quite a bit higher temperatures and occasionally lower temperatures, these have the potential to damage and stress the plant, especially when it comes to cold. Does not support frost.

Perhaps this other article about Mediterranean plants for the garden may also seem interesting to you.

The best thing to do to irrigate fennel is to resort to a system of drip irrigation, either automatically or with a homemade and ecological system that you can make at home with hardly any complications. If you prefer to maintain manual irrigation, keep in mind that it is convenient to give the plant very frequent irrigations that maintain a certain constant humidity level in the soil or substrate.

If these humidity levels are not maintained, the bulb will have problems developing, also affecting the aerial part of the plant. As always with these plants, moisture and abundant watering should not be confused with waterlogging, which is very harmful.

Visit this EcologíaVerde article to learn how to make a drip irrigation system.

As it is a plant that requires constant humidity, the most important thing with its soil or substrate is that it provides a drainage as best as possibleto avoid puddles that rot the bulb.

It also requires soils with a good depth, something especially important in a pot, and it will grow much better in loose and enriched lands previously with organic matter, if possible earthworm humus or compost. This is vital if you intend to consume the plant as aromatic, since a soil poor in nutrients will be noticeable in a poor and less pleasant flavor.

Find out How to make earthworm humus or How to make homemade compost in these two other articles that we recommend.

As we have mentioned, one of the cares for fennel is to have a rich soil, so in the warm months it is convenient to provide it with some more organic matter to the substrate or the earth every two weeks, so that the soil maintains its properties.

Additionally, its cultivation on land will require hilling, which consists of adding more soil to the base of the stems in a way that promotes the formation of a tender and tasty bulb. This should be done 20-30 days after transplanting outdoors, or a few weeks if planted directly in the ground.

If you plant fennel to harvest it, its leaves will begin to be ready between 2 and 3 months after sowing. You can cut them with very sharp and disinfected scissors, cutting the stem at the base. Do not worry because the plant will not take long to give rise to new stems. If what you want is the bulb, it will take a month longer than the leaves to be ready.

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