Fennel: planting and care at their summer cottage

Fennel, or pharmacy dill, its appearance is very similar to ordinary dill, although it has a completely different flavor. Among gardeners, this plant is not particularly common, since the process of growing it is quite laborious.

But among gardeners there are those who are interested in how to plant and grow fennel in the country.

Description of fennel

Fennel is a perennial crop and belongs to the umbrella family. Often gardeners grow it as an annual plant. Most popular fennel vegetable, which is loved for tasty and healthy fruits - heads.

In fennel erect stem height of about two meters. It has blue bloom and dense branching. The root system is quite massive and has a rod shape.Each plant has several root branches with a diameter of 1 to 1.5 cm.

The shape of the leaves is the same as that of dill. Their color is saturated green. At home, growing fennel blooms throughout the season. It begins to bloom in a year's field of planting seeds.

Fennel seeds are small, oblong, about 10 mm long and 3-4 mm wide. They taste sweetish. The mass of 1 thousand grains is about 6-7 g. The seeds ripen in autumn.

Choosing a site for growing fennel

Fennel in the cultivation and care requires a special approach. When choosing a place for planting fennel, it is necessary to take into account the peculiarities of neighboring crops, since it has an adverse effect on some of them.

Fennel predecessors

It is best to grow fennel on soils, where the predecessors were crops that required the application of organic fertilizers.And those are potatoes, cabbage, cucumbers and peas.

Lighting Requirements

Fennel is quite picky about lighting, so for its planting must select open areaswhich are covered by sunlight throughout the day. Consider also that the plant should not have tall neighbors (corn), which in the process of development can create a shadow for it.

Soil for planting

It is best to plant fennel in fertile soil of medium humidity. Well, if the soil is calcareous, sandy or loamy. It is necessary to tillage the soil carefully, arable way and adding organic fertilizers.

In order for fennel to safely spend the winter, it needs to be insulated with peat, dung, sawdust and humus.

Before warming all the greens from the bushes must be cut.

How to plant fennel: plant reproduction

Before planting fennel, preparatory work is carried out, in particular, it is necessary to fertilize the plot on which the plant will be planted. One square meter will need a bucket of compost, manure or peat, as well as a few jars of sawdust.

Growing fennel from seeds

Fennel seeds can be stored for three years without losing their properties. To achieve their maximum germination, it is necessary to scatter the kernels on a cloth, then roll it up and lower it into any container filled with a growth stimulator (it is possible in a weak manganese solution).

Make sure that the cloth with the kernels is completely immersed in the solution. This water treatment should last 4 hours. Fennel seeds can be sown either directly in open ground, or on seedlings:

1. Sowing fennel in open ground. In the question of how to plant fennel seeds in open ground, it is very important to guess the date. Planted plant in the garden should be in the month of April.However, some gardeners plant seeds in the fall, in early September. Fennel, sown in early spring, does not require additional care, whereas in autumn sowing additional insulation is required. Regardless of the time of year, planting fennel with seeds is carried out by digging them 2-3 cm into the soil.

   The site must be prepared in advance. It is necessary to produce soil and add humus to it (one bucket per square meter), sawdust (2 liters per square meter). You can also make a small amount of mineral supplements.

   Sowing the seeds in the spring, the beds are covered with foil before sowing. This is done in order not to lose moisture. The distance between the rows should be 50-60 cm. The seeds germinate on the sixth day (they need for this a minimum temperature of + 6 ... +8 ° C). Seven days after sowing, thinning is necessary.

   Remember that the distance between shoots should be 20-25 cm.

2. Growing fennel in a seedling manner. In areas where summer is short, sprouts are considered the best way to grow fennel. When to plant fennel seedlings?

   Seeds need to be sown in boxes in February or in March.After the first shoots appeared, the plant should be swooped into separate pots. Or thin out in such a way that there is a distance of 20 cm between shoots.

   After one month after emergence of seedlings, seedlings can be transplanted to a permanent place. Sowing fennel seedlings should be done in such a way that the distance between the bushes was 40 cm.

   Planting fennel seedlings is most suitable for the cultivation of vegetable varieties of it. It often happens that the plants can not fully form heads when sowing seeds (they are hampered by a long day of light).

Division of roots

Fennel propagation by dividing the roots is not very common among gardeners. This method is used extremely rarely due to the high complexity and poor survival rate. It is very important that when cutting a bush the roots are not damaged, as the plant will not be accepted and will disappear.

Fundamentals of care for fennel in the open field

Fennel in the issue of planting and care in the open field is not demanding. It is necessary to maintain cleanliness in the garden, weeding. Only they should not be pulled out, but rather cut, as many representatives of weeds improve the soil structure and protect it from drying out.

How to water the plant

Fennel is very picky about water. It needs to be watered every five days (per square meter - 10-15 liters of water). If this is not done, then its long roots begin to take moisture from neighboring crops. In this way, your entire crop may perish. Water fennel and need a dry autumn.

How to fertilize fennel

Feed your pet should be immediately after the first thinning. A mullein infusion is ideal as a top dressing. There are two ways to use it:

• for entering into the soil: it is necessary to dilute the manure bucket with the third part of the water bucket;
• and for irrigation: you will need a solution of mullein used for soil application (in a 1 x 10 ratio).

It is necessary to feed a plant twice a season. You can also replace the mullein chicken droppings, which can be fertilized more than twice.To do this, dilute the litter in the ratio of 1 x 50.

Hilling fennel bush

Hilling spend 2-3 times per season. Spud plants need 3-7 cm in height. This procedure is done to obtain fleshy and bleached fennel heads.

Fennel: when and how to harvest?

Heads of vegetable fennel cut off almost near the surface of the earth (they begin to clean up with a diameter of 8-10 cm). If you cut a head out 3 cm above its base, fresh young leaves will begin to grow in that place.

Keep the cabbages in a cool place buried in the sand. Just before instillation, you need to remove all the leaves, and leave only one stem of 10 cm. You can also keep heads in the refrigerator, but they will not be there for more than a week.

Growing the usual fennel, its green part can be cut off when the plant reaches a height of 25-30 cm. With such growth, the green fennel has the brightest aroma. The best time for cleaning greenery is late evening or early morning, during the dew.

How to get fennel seeds for planting?

To get fennel seeds, you must wait two years until it blooms. Culture will tell you when the seeds ripen - at this time the inflorescence will change in color. It will turn greenish from yellowish to brown. Then you need to carefully cut the umbrellas and hang them to dry, after which you need to shake off the seeds and put them in separate paper bags.

To grow fennel, seeds can be bought in the store. However, they should be chosen correctly. Most often, stores offer two types of seeds. The first is the usual fennel, with which it grows greens and seeds. The second is vegetable fennel, which is used to grow delicious cabbages.

Growing fennel in the open field is quite simple. It is only important to follow all the basic rules, fertilize and moisten the soil, and then your efforts will not keep you waiting, and the pleasant aroma of fennel will be spread throughout your garden.