How to grow fennel at home?

Fennel - in another way, the plant is called pharmaceutical dill - in the garden culture, a relatively new and unknown phenomenon. Summer residents are in no hurry to grow it, since fennel greens in taste and aroma are inferior to dill, at least for our Slavic taste. Residents of the Mediterranean will not agree with this opinion. There fennel has been cultivated since ancient times. Its benefits, expressed both in nutritional value and in medical value, are also known in Central Asia. Today fennel is just beginning its triumphant march through our summer cottages. The agricultural technology of this plant, which differs from the agricultural technology of caraway, dill and other, "synonymous" for our perception of crops.

Growing fennel from seeds

Description of the plant

Fennel is a perennial plant belonging to the Umbelliferae family. The stem is round, pipe-shaped, branched from above. The leaves have many cuts, dividing them into filamentary fibers. Flowers are very small, reminiscent of dill, collected in large umbrellas. Fennel has a gray-marsh color, fruits that have an oblong shape, with ribs, a pleasant, unsharp smell and a sweetish taste.

Fennel

The culture comes from the Mediterranean, but this is only a botanical hypothesis. In fact, where this ancient plant originates from has not been established. Fennel is the "oldest" representative of the umbrella. And in ancient times, on the territory of growth, it was used by the local population as a spice and in medicinal compositions.

Fennel fruit

Fennel value

It lies in the composition. The plant contains proteins, flavonoids, sugars, a certain amount of fats and a lot of essential oils, the active ingredient of which is anethole.

Fennel nutritional value

In nutrition

On the territory of the former USSR, wild dill grew in the Caucasus and in part of the Crimea. In Asia, it was harvested and harvested as a spice for meat, vegetable dishes, soups, and the stems-umbrellas were put when salting, to replace dill.

Today fennel is growing in popularity and its uses are expanding. For example, in many countries it began to be used as a confectionery fragrance and in the alcoholic beverage industry, as well as in the production of perfumery.

In medicine

Fennel - the beneficial properties and benefits of fennel

The Soviet official medicine widely used the fruits of fennel. From the essential oil, pharmaceutical dill water was prepared, which was prescribed when the belly of babies was swollen, when children suffered from coughs or constipation.

Today, when more effective colic remedies have been found, only tea bags with the addition of fennel seeds can be found in the pharmacy. But at home, mothers, and especially grandmothers, continue to water the babies with homemade dill water.

As for the expectorant properties, fennel has them to a greater extent than garden dill. Therefore, its seeds are included in the expectorant fees.

Growing fennel

The plant looks like a giant dill. This is fennel root. Vegetable, in contrast to it, has heads of cabbage instead of a root, which are used for food as a vegetable.It is customary to distinguish it in a special variety, which has its own rules of agricultural technology.

Vegetable fennel

Head of vegetable fennel

Instead of roots, tuberous forms are formed, which develop slowly at the initial stage of growth. They have knots tightly adjacent to each other, thick petioles that grow into a head of cabbage. In height, before the formation of the stem, the plant grows up to 60 cm.

Vegetable forms can be distinguished from ordinary ones not only by the modified root, but also by the shape and color of the leaf rosette. Today, many varieties of vegetable fennel have been bred, and constantly new species of seeds continue to be sold from breeders.

Fennel harvest

Common fennel

Fennel ordinary

It can be divided into two subgroups, differing in the ripening rate, the degree of foliage, and productivity. Some varieties are best grown for greenery, others are grown for seeds. Seed varieties are specially selected so that the content of essential oils in them is higher. Varieties for greens have a pronounced aroma, large leaf mass.

Choosing a variety of fennel

Fennel varieties

Luzhnikovsky Semko	forms a large-fruited head of cabbage, has an average ripeness of 55-60 days. The yield is decent - from a kilogram of heads of cabbage per square meter of planting.	"Pepper"	a variety grown for greens that is used as a seasoning, fresh or dried. The roots of this variety are not suitable for food. Umbrellas with flowers are used for salting.
"Utter"	is considered an early ripening variety. To form heads of technical ripeness, he needs only 47-50 days after germination. It is resistant to emergence into the stem, therefore the fruits are formed stably. Average yield - up to 1.5 kg per meter. This variety is preferred by many gardeners.	"Crimean"	a seed variety that is bred specifically to obtain oil from seeds. Grown industrially in Ukraine. This variety has tough greens with a weak aroma. Therefore, it is impractical to grow it to obtain a green seasoning.
"Rudy F1"	is a hybrid of average ripeness (up to 60 days of heading). Differs in high yield, which can reach 3 kg per square meter.	"Garden"	also a variety for greens. The seeds do not have a high content of essential oil substances. Roots do not form heads of cabbage. Greens with a mild aroma, juicy, used fresh and for canning.

Agrotechnics

Tips for growing fennel

Not being particularly "capricious", fennel still requires some favorable conditions for successful growth. This is especially true for growing plants in a two- and three-year culture and agricultural technology of head fennel.

Warmth and light

Unlike dill, fennel loves warmth. It grows better in regions with long summers and not harsh winters than in the climate of the middle zone. But the plant also does not like dryness and heat and does not tolerate it well. Vegetable and green varieties should not be sown in direct sun. But you can grow fennel for seeds in a sunny place.

Humidity

Fennel definitely needs moisture. The plant, especially in drought, will have to be watered repeatedly throughout the summer. Moreover, watering should be deep and abundant, especially for vegetable varieties, which otherwise will not form full-fledged heads of cabbage.

The soil

Fennel is also quite whimsical here. He likes soils of the highest degree of cultivation. It will not grow on wild wastelands in our climate. Soil fertility should also be high. The plant does not need light soils, they are suitable for moderate severity, but they must be calcified and have a slightly alkaline reaction.

Seed germination conditions

In order for fennel seeds to germinate safely, the following conditions will need to be met.

1. The temperature is not lower than + 20 ° С.Seeds can begin to germinate even at extreme + 10 ° C, but twenty and above degrees will give the result - sprouts that hatch in two weeks. In the cold, seeds can germinate for more than a month.
2. Good soil moisture. It is better to sow fennel in places where there was the greatest accumulation of snow and melt water has thoroughly saturated the soil. In the event of a dry spring after a winter with little snow, it is necessary to carry out water-charging irrigation before sowing.
3. If the seeds are sown early (when the heat has not come), or if the planting is thickened, as well as if the soil is excessively dry, vegetable fennel can go into the arrow.
4. Fennel will not grow in the shade. He is quite light-requiring and prefers open spaces.
5. For the winter, fennel needs shelter. Vegetation of the second year begins in the month of April.

By the way! The best precursors for the plant will be crops that fertilize well, for example, all types of cabbage.

Tips for growing fennel

Sowing subtleties

Fennel can be cultivated in both annual and perennial crops. Also, sowing seeds can be carried out in spring or before winter.

For any type of sowing, a site for fennel is dug deep in mid-autumn, immediately after the collection of the previous culture. Digging depth - at least 25 cm. If the soil is not highly nutritious, and sowing will be carried out in the spring, you can add an organic nutrient for digging. In the spring, the soil is dug again, halfway. Loosens and leveled.

When sowing in the winter, you will have to make do with fertilizers that remained in the soil from their predecessors. For such sowing, ten days after digging, the site must be well leveled, the soil must be loosened.

Advice! Fennel prefers fertile soil, but adding organic matter for planting means condemning the plant to "fattening" and slow ripening. Optimal introduction of the organic component under the predecessor or in the autumn season for spring planting. Application amount - up to 7 kg per square meter.

As for mineral fertilizers, they must be given before sowing. Sowing top dressing composition (per m²):

• ammonium nitrate - 30 g;
• potassium salts - 10 g;
• superphosphate salts - 20 g.

Advice! When sowing head fennel, mix the seeds well with superphosphate fertilizer granules (2 g / m²).

Sow the crop in late spring, as soon as the soil is thoroughly warmed up. In different climatic zones, sowing takes place from April to June. In the middle, it is better to sow closer to the end of June, so that the plant does not go into the arrow.

Fennel seeds

Seeds are recommended to be stratified with cold and treated with germination stimulants.

How to stratify seeds

In the southern regions, dry seeds are sown for perennial cultivation in July or even August.

The seeding rate is about 1 g per square meter. Immersion - no more than 2 cm.

Sowing is carried out in rows with a range of 60 cm, or with bands - with a 25 cm distance. In a row (row), the plants will thin out. Vegetable varieties will remain 15 cm apart, ordinary ones - 8.

Fennel sowing furrows

After thinning, the first hilling is carried out. In the future, for vegetable varieties, it should be carried out regularly.

Varieties for greens can be sown again, until August, with an interval of 2-3 weeks.

Growing fennel seedlings

Growing fennel seedlings

Seedlings do not have to be grown at home - you can do this in a greenhouse. Vegetable fennel does not relate very well to transplanting, therefore, cultivation is recommended to be carried out in peat pots. If sowing was carried out in a common container or in protected ground, at the stage of two sheets, it is necessary to pick into peat pots, cassettes, plastic containers, at least 8 cm in diameter. The seedlings will be in them until the age of 45-50 days. Then it is transplanted into the ground to a permanent place.

Fennel seedlings - photo

Advice! Another way of reproduction of a perennial is vegetative.It is easy to divide age bushes. To do this, in the fall, they must be cut in such a way that 2-3 viable buds remain on each segment.

How to care for fennel

Caring for him is simple and not burdensome.

1. All aisles are loosened three times for the entire season.
2. Weeds are weeded as they grow.

   Fennel needs to be loosened and weeded

3. During the summer season, an average of 4 waterings will be needed (on light soils - more), abundant, at least 20 liters per meter. If there is a lack of moisture, the vegetable variety will go into the stem, or the resulting head of cabbage will be of poor quality.
4. After four leaves, top dressing is given. The second is carried out when flowering stems begin to form - for seed varieties, and a month after the first - for head varieties.

   Take care of fennel

Harvesting of food greens occurs when the bushes reach 30 cm (for later sown fennel, it is important to remove the greens before the onset of frost).

Heads of cabbage can be harvested when their diameter is 10 cm (cut at the root, 20 cm of petioles with leaves are left on them).

The seeds are removed as they ripen, which is uneven. To avoid self-seeding, the umbrella with seeds can be wrapped with a light gauze cloth. The best seeds ripen on the central part of the umbrella, so you can selectively harvest these parts first and then collect the rest. At the final cut, the stems, connected by sheaves, are sent for ripening.

Harvesting fennel

Wintering

Only the southern winter can safely transfer fennel. In medium-climatic regions, it is necessary to spud the plants before wintering, cover them well with peat or manure, and cover them with straw. At the first snowfall, cover the place where the fennel grows with snow.

It is a good idea to overwinter fennel in a stationary greenhouse that is not harvested for the winter. He also needs to be covered.

Pests and diseases

The aromatic relative of dill has a lot of pests. Even the harmless and good-natured May beetle, which gnaws at the plants, is dangerous for young seedlings.

1. Fennel greens are eaten by thrips, aphids and bedbugs, the umbrella is especially zealous.
2. Butterfly scoops and caterpillars also love to feast on young fennel.
3. Moli - carrot and caraway moths, as well as the umbrella moth, will not pass by the mouth-watering bushes.
4. Of the diseases, the most intractable and harmful are cercospora and phomosis. The first is transmitted by seeds, the second by pathogens in the soil.

Pests and diseases

Control measures do not differ from those that apply to dill.

Important! It must be remembered that when growing on greens, it is unacceptable to subject the plants to chemical treatment.

Garden varieties and seeds can be treated with appropriate preparations that will help cope with the problem at an early stage of the growing season.

It is best to protect fennel from pests and diseases by proper agricultural technology, harvesting plant residues, and timely harvesting.

Seeds should be used for sowing only healthy, disinfected treated. New plantings of fennel, even of different varieties, should not be placed next to or in place of old ones for at least three years.

Disinfection of seeds

If you already want to grow this plant, due to its usefulness, originality and popularity, but the taste and smell of greens still does not seem attractive, there is a little trick that will help you fall in love with fennel and understand its value. Before winter comes, dig in some younger plants uprooted in a greenhouse or greenhouse. When the real winter comes, visit the greenhouse and cut the greens. Its aroma and taste will seem so sweet and fresh to you that you will certainly fall in love with fennel and will be happy to grow it, along with the usual dill.

Fennel in landscape design

Video - Fennel: growing from seeds

Fennel is popularly called pharmaceutical dill and is often grown as a medicinal plant. Although it looks like dill outwardly, these species differ in the structure of the fruits.A variety of vegetable fennel is also distinguished by the possibility of using it not only as a seasoning with a refined aroma reminiscent of anise, but also as a vegetable, using a thickened stalk for food.

Characteristics and properties

Fennel belongs to the perennial plants of the umbrella family. It has a stem up to two meters, branching upwards, and smooth alternate leaves. It blooms in summer with small yellow flowers, collected in simple umbrellas, forming a complex umbrella up to 20 cm in diameter. Fruits are oblong-shaped two-seed plants with aniseed scent.

The vegetable variety of fennel forms a stalk (stalk, fleshy thickening of the stem). Unlike the pharmacy kind, vegetable fennel is richer in minerals and essential oil.

The leaves are used as a condiment. Tuber is a valuable dietary product high in vitamin C, rutin and carotene.

Babies are prepared from seeds a pleasant-tasting "dill water" to eliminate colic and normalize digestion.

Fennel fruit is also used to improve digestion, as a diuretic and laxative. They have an expectorant and antispasmodic effect, promote the formation of milk in breastfeeding mothers.

It is noticed that the scent of fennel scares away fleas of pets, for this fresh leaves are crushed and rubbed into the fur of pets. You can also spread the greens under the animal bedding.

Fennel can be a wonderful decorative element of the garden, dividing it into zones.

Varieties

Fennel is classified into two types:
ordinary;
vegetable.

Varieties of ordinary (pharmacy) fennel:
"Aroma": mid-season, 75 days to technical ripeness, 170 cm tall.
"Leader": early maturing, 50 days, height up to 180 cm.

Vegetable (Italian, Florentine) fennel:
"Udalets": mid-season, 80 days, stem grows up to 120 g of medium density.
"Luzhnikovsky Semko": mid-season, 75 - 80 days, stem crop up to 220 g with white dense pulp and small slit-like voids.

Decorative fennel varieties:
"Giant Bronze": Leaves at a young age are bronze in color with a purple hue.
"Purpureum": a coppery shade of young leaves, later a brownish-bronze shade.

Site organization and soil preparation

Grows well in fertile soil, sandy loam or loamy types with an alkaline reaction.

Grows better in warm, sheltered from cold winds (especially vegetable), an adequate response to fertilization.

Seeds that are ripe and not harvested in time give self-seeding and germinate in spring.

Usually grown as an annual plant, but when the roots are warmed for the winter, it can sprout in the spring. Transfer of the excavated rhizomes to the cellar is possible.

Predecessors

Grows well after root crops.

Sowing time

They are sown in open ground in early spring from mid-April, with the plantation covered with foil until mid-May. Re-crops in May.

Sowing before winter is possible.

It is sown for seedlings in March or at several times until May, usually in peat-baked pots.

Sowing

In open ground, seeds are sown to a depth of 2 cm, row spacing 20 - 25 and up to 50 cm. Seedlings are thinned out at intervals of 10 - 12 cm.

Sprouts appear in two weeks, provided the soil warms up to 8 degrees.

For seedlings, vegetable fennel is sown in 2 - 3 seeds per pot, as a result, the strongest plant is left for planting.

Landing in the ground

Planting vegetable fennel in the ground should be carried out carefully, since even lightly injured seedlings will tend to form shoots, not stems.

Planting scheme: row spacing up to 25 cm, staggered with an interval of up to 35 cm in a row.

Early sown fennel seeds can bloom by the end of July without having time to form heads of cabbage. Hot weather without sufficient watering also contributes to this.

In order not to miscalculate, you can sow and plant fennel in several times.

Usually fennel is grown from seed, but vegetative division of the plant into parts and subsequent planting is also possible.

Care

Care consists in regular watering, loosening row spacings and removing weeds, thinning and hilling plants.

Thickening of plantings leads to early stemming and flowering of fennel.

For vegetable fennel sown in the ground, the sprouts are thinned out at intervals of up to 20 cm, since the stem grower can sometimes reach up to 10 cm in diameter.

Hilling (up to 3 times to a height of up to 7 cm) is carried out for greater development of the stalk. It is believed that in this way it becomes more meaty and bleached.

If the purpose of growing fennel is greens, then for a greater yield of leaves, the inflorescences are removed when they appear, this will also prevent unwanted self-seeding.

Top dressing

It will not be superfluous to feed the fennel with mullein infusion (up to two times per season). The concentrate is prepared from one third of the manure and two thirds of the water. The working aqueous solution is used in a ratio of concentrate to water of 1:10.

Pests

Fennel can be damaged by aphids and caterpillars. Fight pests with ash or tobacco dust.

Harvesting

The crop can be harvested when the stem thickens to 10 cm in diameter, usually in September. The leaves are cut 15 cm above the thickening.

Stem fruits are used immediately in salads, soups, and meat. Can be stored for up to 6 days in wet sand.

Greens are dried in the shade, stored in a sealed container. The seeds are used for preservation or baking as a seasoning.

Common fennel is a healthy crop with a pleasant smell. It is widely used in cooking and also for medicinal purposes. You can grow a plant at home, for example, in the country, especially since the agricultural technology of fennel is simple.

Description and characteristics

Common fennel is a member of the Umbrella family and is a perennial herb. However, many summer residents and gardeners prefer to plant the crop annually. The most famous type of plant is vegetable fennel. Its fruits have a pleasant specific taste, which is why they are actively used in cooking.

The plant is quite tall. The individual can grow up to 2 meters high. At the same time, the plant is quite powerful, it actively branches. Vegetable fennel has a whitish coating on its green parts. The leaves of the culture outwardly resemble dill, they are bright green. During flowering, umbellate inflorescences with small yellow flowers are formed on individuals.

Vegetable fennel is not the only plant that is commonly grown in the country. There are also:

1. The aroma is a plant with an inherent average ripening rate. You can harvest the variety as early as 2.5 months after the planting was carried out. From an area unit of 1 square meter, up to 3 kilograms of crop fruits can be harvested.
2. The leader is vegetable fennel, which ripens quickly. Plant height reaches 1.8 meters. Seeds usually germinate 1.5 months after planting.
3. Udalts - plants of the variety are mid-season and medium-sized. The fruit of the species weighs, on average, 120 grams. The height of an individual of the variety is up to 0.6 meters.
4. Luzhnikovsky Semko. The weight of the fruit of this variety exceeds 0.2 kilograms. Seeds ripen in 2.5 months.
5. Autumn handsome - an early ripening variety of culture, the ripening period of which is about 40 days. Plant height is 1.8 meters. The leaves of the "handsome man" have a pleasant smell.

Growing features

Do you want to grow a culture at home? Be prepared for the fact that a fennel plant has a number of characteristics to grow.

It is better to provide the culture with more free space on the site. That is, planting fennel should be carried out away from other plants. Crop care provides for abundant watering. If the grass lacks water or nutrients, it will pull its roots to other plants, thereby oppressing them.

Fennel ordinary reproduces well by self-seeding.This feature plays into the hands of many gardeners.

Just like caring for a plant, its neighbors are important. Tomatoes, legumes, peppers, cumin and spinach are unwanted crop companions. After all, they will be oppressed by fennel. But the plant will have a beneficial effect on cabbage and cucumbers: the aroma of the grass will ward off aphids. However, it is worth watering your neighbors often and abundantly: cucumbers and fennel, as they are very fond of water.

Common fennel benefits not only a person, but also the area in which it grows. After all, the smell of flowers of culture attracts insects, which pollinate other plants.

Video "How to grow fennel correctly"

In this video, experienced gardeners tell all the intricacies of growing fennel.

Growing from seeds

The easiest way to grow a crop is by sowing seeds. Plant germination is high, the seeds are able to maintain this property for a couple of years after harvest. Fennel can also be bred by dividing the root, but this method is rarely used at home due to its complexity. In addition, the grass propagated in this way takes on much worse.

Planting seeds outdoors can be carried out twice a year. For the first time, the procedure is carried out in April-May, the second time - in August-September. When planting seeds in open ground, they are deepened, on average, by 2 centimeters. Fertilizers must be applied to the soil: humus and slaked lime. In this case, the ratio of nutrients should be a bucket of humus per square meter of area. You can add to the earth and minerals: a couple of tablespoons of superphosphate per unit area.

After planting seeds in the spring, the area should be covered with plastic or cling film. In this form, the bed should remain until the first shoots from the seeds appear. Thanks to this procedure, the seedlings will stay warm and have enough moisture.

In order to grow a crop with seeds successfully, you need to choose a good seed. It is best to purchase it from specialized stores. There are usually two types of seeds: ordinary fennel and vegetable. The first type of plant is bred to obtain seeds or herbs, and the second - for fruits, which are widely used in cooking.

The first shoots of the culture appear usually 10 days after planting. Young seedlings must be dived, removing the "extra" plants (weak or poorly developing). Thanks to this, the rest of the fruits will be fully formed, which will provide you with a high-quality harvest.

After diving, the seedlings should be at least 15 centimeters apart. They need to be fed with mullein solution.

Subtleties of care

Plant care involves, first of all, abundant systematic watering. Fennel loves water, so the soil in which it grows must be constantly and well hydrated. If there is not enough water for the grass, then it will “take” it by the roots from the crops growing in the neighborhood. Care also includes periodic loosening of the soil around the planting. To avoid active evaporation of moisture in the soil, the soil is usually mulched.

The active development of fruits is also facilitated by proper care - periodic hilling of the stems. This procedure facilitates the access of oxygen to the roots of the plant. Fertilizing fennel with a mullein or green grass solution will also have a positive effect on the plant.

Diseases and pests

In a cold summer with a lot of rainfall, the crop can get sick with gray mold.

The plant is often attacked by a caraway or carrot moth. In May, the insect lays its larvae, and at the beginning of summer these are already full-fledged caterpillars. They feed on green parts and fruits of fennel, and its inflorescences are entwined with cobwebs. To get rid of the pest will help uprooting the affected individuals and their subsequent burning.Prevention involves systematic weeding, timely collection of seed and treatment of seedlings with special solutions.

So, common fennel is a fragrant herb that is quite popular today. Different methods of reproduction speak in its favor, the possibility of sowing a crop with seeds directly into the soil and a wide range of applications for the fruits and greens of the plant.

Video "Vegetable fennel"

This video shows you how to properly plant fennel seeds.

Features of growing fennel from seeds on a windowsill

Good day, dear lovers of the home garden!

Before I talk about growing fennel from seeds at home on a windowsill, I will briefly describe this wonderful spicy plant.

The delicate green shoots of fennel, which resemble dill in appearance, have a slightly refreshing attractive taste. It contains vitamin A, essential oils, B vitamins and vitamin C. It especially attracts with its swelling, which resembles a round onion in shape.

This thickening in the Mediterranean countries is cooked in oil, cooked in broth with flour, and also added to salads. Young shoots and umbrellas find their application in the salting of various vegetable crops, in fruits - in the production of bread products.

Fennel ordinary belongs to the Celery family. It is grown like dill. The seeds of this crop are stored for only two or three years. But you can also propagate with the help of rhizomes, which are divided so that on each part there are from 2 to 3 buds.

For growing this spicy culture, containers or pots made of any material are suitable, the height of which can vary from 20 to 30, and the width - from 20 to 25 cm.It is advisable to pour a drainage layer (from 1 to 2 cm) on the bottom of the container.

Fennel grows and develops best on nutritious soil with a little clay. The acidity of the earthen mixture should be neutral (pH 7.0). It is best to buy a universal flower soil (like "Terravita") and add a little clay or sod land to it.

For sowing this culture, small peat pots filled with an earthen mixture are used. In each pot, 2 or 3 seeds are placed in order to subsequently leave the strongest, and remove the rest. The seeds are covered with a small layer of soil (from 1 to 2 cm) and placed in a place with a temperature of 13 to 18 degrees.

It is worth remembering that fennel needs darkness for germination, and it can begin to hatch already at temperatures from +6 to +8 degrees. But in this case, the first seedlings will appear in 14 - 20 days.

By pursuing growing fennel from seed, you need to remember about one more important point: any damage to the roots leads to the appearance of a large number of branches, but the thickening in the form of a bulb does not develop well.

Two-month-old seedlings are moved into pots with a diameter of 20-25 cm. Green openwork shoots begin to cut when they reach a height of about 30 cm. Fennel is mainly grown not only for the spicy openwork shoots, but also for the root thickenings. This culture is usually grown in large containers, since its thickened rhizome can reach a diameter of 8 to 10 cm, and the whole plant can be up to half a meter.

The growing time from the appearance of the first shoots to the appearance of the rhizome is from 2.5 to 3 months. Successful crops! See you!