RHS Growing Guides
How to grow rocket
Our detailed growing guide will help you with each step in successfully growing Rocket.
Getting Started
Rocket is a member of the mustard family, and there are two main types to grow – wild rocket and salad rocket – both forming compact, leafy plants that are great in small spaces and containers.
Wild rocket plants produce harvests through summer and beyond, while salad rocket is shorter lived and should be sown repeatedly in small batches. Rocket tends to
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Choosing
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Wild rocket (Diplotaxis tenuifolia) is a perennial plant, lasting for several years. Robust and easy to grow even in poor soil, it produces long, deeply divided leaves with a strong peppery flavour. It is slower growing and crops over a long period, even in winter if protected under cloches.
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Salad rocket or cultivated rocket (Eruca sativa) is an annual, with a shorter lifespan, especially in summer. Its leaves are more delicate, larger and rounded in shape and milder tasting. It flowers readily in hot weather, causing the leafy harvests to decline, so regular sowing is essential. In cooler weather, plants crop for longer. There are several varieties to choose from, with various leaf shapes and flavours.
What and where to buy
Rocket seeds are readily available in garden centres and from online seed retailers, including several varieties of salad rocket. Wild rocket may also be available to buy as young plants in garden centres.
Recommended Varieties
Fast growing
Combines the flavour of wild rocket with salad rocket's speed of growth
Sowing
Rocket likes fertile soil that retains some moisture, although wild rocket will also grow well in poorer, drier soil. A sunny site is fine for spring and late summer sowings, but early/mid-summer sowings are best in a cooler spot in light shade, to prolong cropping, especially with salad varieties.
Prepare the ground for sowing by weeding, then rake to remove any large stones and level the surface. If the soil is light and free-draining, add garden compost to help retain moisture.
Rocket also grows well in containers filled with multi-purpose compost.
Seeds can be sown indoors, either in early spring to produce an early crop, or in late summer or early autumn for cropping over winter.
Sowing outdoors
Sow rocket outdoors from April to early September, and for a further month under cloches or fleece.
Make a short, shallow drill up to 1cm (½in) deep, water along the base, then scatter the seeds thinly along its length. Cover lightly with soil then firm gently. If sowing several rows, space them 15cm (6in) apart.
To sow in a large pot, fill with multi-purpose compost, then scatter the seeds thinly over the surface. Cover lightly with more compost, firm gently and water well.
Seedlings should appear in just a few days. Protect them from slugs and snails. Water if the weather is dry, and once they’re large enough to handle, thin them out to 15cm (6in) apart and use the thinnings in salads. Overcrowded plants tend to flower more rapidly.
For a continuous supply of leaves, especially of salad rocket, sow short rows every few weeks.
If you allow some plants to flower and produce seeds, they’ll self-seed to give you new plants without any effort.
Sowing indoors
You can extend your harvests at the start and end of the growing season by sowing in an unheated greenhouse, coldframe, bright porch or other similar sheltered location. Start plants off in February or March for earlier spring harvests, or in August and September for harvests into winter.
Sow in containers or in a greenhouse border, using the same methods described in Sowing outdoors, above.
Plant Care
It’s best to give rocket some shade in hot weather, to deter flowering and prevent the leaves becoming tough and unpalatable. Cover with fleece or make mid-summer sowings in a spot that gets some light shade. If growing in a container, move it to a shadier spot in hot weather.
Watering
Keep the soil moist, watering in dry spells, to ensure consistent growth and prevent plants running to seed (bolting) prematurely.
Weeding
Weed between the plants regularly, to reduce competition.
Flowering
As flower stems appear, pinch them out to prolong cropping, unless you want the plants to produce seeds. Plants flower sooner in hot, dry weather.
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Salad rocket plants are annuals and die off after flowering and seeding, so this spells the end of cropping and plants should be removed.
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Wild rocket, on the other hand, is a perennial and will continue producing edible leaves after flowering, for the rest of the growing season and potentially for several years to come. Trim plants back if they get too large and sprawling, and to encourage fresh new leaves.
Harvesting
Rocket can provide pickings from early summer through to autumn, and beyond with protection. You can start harvesting leaves about four weeks after sowing. Regular picking keeps growth young, tender and tasty. Older leaves can be lightly cooked as a spinach substitute, added to sauces, stir-fried or sautéed in olive oil.
Pick rocket as a cut-and-come again crop, taking a few leaves from each plant along the row. If you take lots of leaves from just one plant, it will be slow to recover.
The white, four-petalled flowers are edible and can be used as a garnish for salads.
The two types of rocket crop in different ways:
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Wild rocket plants produce hot, spicy leaves for a long period, right through summer and autumn, and if protected under cloches may keep cropping into winter, then start again in early spring. Plants will continue producing leaves after flowering, unlike annual salad rocket. The flavour tends to get hotter in summer.
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Salad rocket plants crop for a shorter period, depending on temperature and time of year. You should be able to take several harvests from a row, before the plants start to flower. They flower more quickly in hot, dry weather. Once they flower, their leafy harvest is over and plants should be removed. Repeat sowing is vital for a long harvesting season. Salad rocket leaves are generally milder in flavour and more tender.
Problems
Protect seedlings and young plants from our slugs and snails. Rocket leaves may also be holed by flea beetle, but this is usually just cosmetic damage. Salad rocket tends to bolt quickly in hot weather, which spells the end of the crop, so is best grown in light shade in summer and sown regularly in small batches.
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