Planting rocket: location, sowing & companion plants
The peppery taste of rocket adds a certain something to many Mediterranean dishes. Rocket is easy to grow at home and your salads will thank you if you do!
Germanic tribes once brought the rocket across the Alps to northern Italy, where it spread rapidly. Rocket is said to have been eaten as a salad leaf since the 16th century in Britain. It has made a bit of a resurgence due to its use in Italian food and is now a favourite topping on pizzas and used in pesto. The name rocket comes from the Italian words ruchetta and rucola. Other names include arugula in the US and garden rocket. Supermarkets mainly sell varieties of garden rocket (Eruca sativa). Less common is wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia), which can be recognised by its distinctly narrower and smaller leaves. The two species also differ in taste and growth rate, with garden rocket growing faster and having a much milder and nuttier taste.
Rocket is easy to grow at home and is great for planting in raised beds or in pots on the balcony. And for those who do not want to miss out on the peppery salad green all year round, growing rocket indoors is also possible. Growing rocket yourself is very simple, you only need to decide which cultivar to grow. Garden rocket is grown as an annual, while wild rocket can be grown for several years.
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Growing rocket: the right location
Both types of rocket prefer a sunny to semi-shady location. Rocket likes humus-rich, loose, well-drained soil. It will not thrive in waterlogged soil. Furthermore, it is important to aerate the soil well and to water it regularly. This applies whether you are growing rocket in a pot, in a garden bed or on a windowsill.
Planting rocket in the bed
If your garden soil is too clayey, mix in some sand and, for instance, our Plantura Organic Enriched Compost, to loosen and aerate the soil. Our compost contains a high proportion of organic matter, which has a long-term positive effect on the soil’s water-holding capacity. Make sure that no cruciferous vegetables (Brassicaceae), such as cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata), have been grown in the bed in the previous 4 years. This is because rocket belongs to the same plant family, so it can be affected by the same diseases, which often survive the winter in the soil.
- Perfect for all crops and ornamental plants with a high nutrient requirement & for raised beds
- Improves soil quality & promotes healthy root growth
- Peat-free & organic soil: CO2-saving composition
Planting rocket in a raised bed
Growing rocket in a raised bed is even easier and is particularly suitable in the spring, as the soil warms up more quickly and water drains better. Use a nutrient rich compost to grow rocket in raised beds, such as our Plantura Organic Enriched Compost, which provides rocket with all the nutrients it needs to grow well.
Planting rocket in a pot on the balcony or patio
Growing rocket in pots or balcony boxes is also a very good option, as rocket does not need a lot of soil to grow. Like raised beds, choose a humus-rich, loose and permeable compost.
Planting rocket on the windowsill
If you do not want to go without this peppery salad green during winter, plant rocket on the windowsill. However, when growing rocket indoors, it is important to make sure that it always gets enough light and that the soil does not dry out. Ideally, grow rocket in a room with a temperature of about 20 °C. During germination, it can be a little cooler – around 15 °C.
Tip: unlike garden rocket, wild rocket usually survives the winter well and can be grown as a perennial. Keep this in mind when choosing a location.
Planting rocket seeds: timing, sowing depth and co.
Sowing rocket seeds directly into the bed or pot usually works without problems. Of course, you can also start rocket on the windowsill and then plant it out. However, to have a longer harvest period, rocket needs to be sown successionally, such as sowing a new row every few weeks. This makes starting rocket seeds indoors very time-consuming, so we do not recommend pre-growing seeds.
When to plant rocket seeds?
Most cultivars can be sown directly outdoors from April to September. Garden rocket can only be harvested two to three times before it flowers. Therefore, it is best to sow a row of rocket every 3 weeks. This way, you can enjoy fresh rocket from spring to autumn.
Preparing the bed before planting rocket seeds
It is important to prepare the bed before sowing rocket seeds. Remove weeds, loosen the soil with a hoe and rake to a fine tilth. Also make sure that there are no other cruciferous vegetables (Brassicaceae) near the rocket bed, otherwise it is easy to have problems with flea beetles (Phyllotreta and Psylliodes) in spring.
Sowing rocket seeds
Make shallow drills about 15cm apart and sow the rocket seeds in them. The rocket seeds can also be mixed with sand to ensure even distribution. Then, cover the rocket seeds with 0.5cm of soil. Pat down the soil and water well.
Tip: if you grow rocket with companion plants, it can also be sown in small clusters.
How to grow rocket
Keep the soil constantly moist but avoid waterlogging at all costs. The first rocket seedlings should be visible after 10 to 14 days at optimal germination temperatures, which vary between 10 and 20 °C depending on the variety. If necessary, thin out the seedlings after they have emerged to a spacing of about 5cm, but even without this measure, rocket grows abundantly.
Tip: if you purchase young rocket plants at your local nursery, they will need to be planted out in the bed at some point. Plant out young rocket plants in the bed between April and September. If you live in a region that has frosts in spring, protect them with a layer of garden fleece. Plant the rocket seedlings 15cm apart and keep them moist, especially in the first week as they spread their roots in the surrounding soil.
Rocket companion planting
Rocket makes a great companion plant. Lettuce (Lactuca sativa), celery (Apium graveolens), onions (Allium), basil (Ocimum basilicum) and calendula (Calendula officinalis) are good companion plants for rocket. Planting rocket and tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum) together is also excellent because rocket stays small and has low nutrient requirements.
There are some companion plants for rocket that are not ideal. These are spinach (Spinacia oleracea), coriander (Coraindrum sativum) and peas (Pisum sativum) and all types of cruciferous vegetables, such as cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata), radishes (Raphanus sativus var. sativus), cress (Lepidium sativum), or mustard (Sinapis alba, Brassica spec.).
