Hot summer sun causes greens to turn bitter and go to seed quickly--That's why we start them now! Of course, after the weather is consistently over 85 degrees F, we can move our containers to an area that gets cool afternoon shade in order to extend the life of those cool weather crops...
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| ARUGULA GROWS GREAT IN CONTAINERS |
Arugula loves the cool weather and SHOULD be planted in DFW, starting today—especially in containers. All you need are daytime temperatures above 40F. Even frost won’t hold it back. It grows best in a sunny location though it will tolerate some shade particularly when summer temperatures begin to rise…
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| Delicious arugula leaves of a plant grown in a container... |
Growing Arugula - Arugula doesn't love hot weather and, in fact, gets quite bitter if grown when it's steaming hot outside.
Young arugula leaves are some of the most tender and delicious—These are the best to add to your salad before the heat of summer turns them bitter. If grown in containers, the useful life of this herb can be extended--if the container is moved to a spot where it receives only morning sun (Do this just prior to oppressively hot temperatures hitting the DFW area)…
Harvesting Arugula - The younger the leaves, the more tender and sweet they will be, so don't wait too long to start picking them. Allow the plants to continue growing tender young leaves. You can collect just the leaves by cutting or tearing them off towards their base.
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| Arugula Flowers |
Many gourmets think the flowers are the best part of the arugula - they aren't as spicy as the leaves and are a little sweet. The flowers appear after the leaves have grown to full size and are too bitter to eat. If you don't harvest your arugula (the whole plant), eventually you should see flowers. Pick them off and eat them, or add them to a salad or an open-faced sandwich for a beautiful treat. Some gardeners grow arugula for the flowers alone!
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