Fennel Seeds

How to Grow Fennel

Know Your Fennel – Flavour & Kitchen Uses:

• Bulbing / Florence fennel – sweet anise crunch; shave raw into salads, roast wedges, braise with fish or grill for caramel notes.
• Leaf or wild fennel – feathery fronds and aromatic stems; use like dill in herb butters, sauces and as a fish garnish. Seeds flavour breads, biscotti and sausages.

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Seeds per Gram: ≈ 200 – 250 seeds per gram

Optimal Germination: 10 – 30 °C (germinates in 7 – 14 days)

Feed Requirements:

• Moderate feeder. Mix 5 cm of compost into the bed before sowing, then:
• When bulbs begin swelling: side-dress row with nitrogen-rich fertiliser.
• Repeat light liquid feeds every fortnight if foliage pales.

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Growing Notes:

Climate & Timing:

• A cool-season vegie that bolts in hot, long-day weather. Sow direct early spring or late summer for autumn/winter harvest.
• In mild climates a mid-winter sowing gives spring bulbs; in cold zones start seed indoors 4–6 weeks before last frost and transplant cautiously.

Sowing & Spacing:

• Direct sow 5-8 mm deep, 30-40 cm apart in rows 40 cm apart. Ensure to thin bulbing varieties 30 cm once plants reach 10 cm tall to ensure good sized bulbs.
• For succession, sow 1 m of row every 3 – 4 weeks.

Soil & Water:

• Prefers fertile, well-drained loam, pH 6.5 – 8.0;
• Keep soil evenly moist; 
• Drip irrigation prevents split stems and bolting stress.

Cultural Tips

• Mulch to keep soil cool and suppress weeds.
• As bulbs swell, hill 5 cm of soil around bases to keep them white and tender.
• Avoid disturbing roots; fennel dislikes transplant shock.
  • If starting as seedlings ensure deep pots or cells so less root disturbance when planting out. Ensure that you transplant before roots start 'curling' or get too crowded.
• Companion planting: fennel can inhibit some neighbours—grow at bed ends or amongst flowers rather than beside beans or coriander.

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Common Problems:

• Bolting: triggered by heat, drought or damage—keep soil moist, sow bolt-resistant cultivars such as ‘Orion’.
• Aphids, thrips, cabbage moth larvae: blast off with water, use insecticidal soap or encourage lacewings.
• Cutworms & slugs: use collars on seedlings; hand-pick pests at dusk.
• Bulbs not forming: often too-hot weather, irregular watering or sowing common (non-bulbing) fennel—timing and variety choice are key.

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Harvesting:

• Leaves: snip fronds anytime once plants are 15 cm tall; use fresh or freeze in herb butter.
• Bulbs: cut at root crown when bases reach 6 – 10 cm across and feel firm.
• Seeds: clip umbels when they brown; dry in paper bags, then winnow.
  

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Storage & Use:

• Bulbs keep 5 – 7 days in a perforated bag in the fridge.
• Blanch-and-freeze slices for soups. 
• Dried seed stores 12 months in airtight jars.

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With steady moisture, rich soil and clever timing, fennel rewards you with feathery herbs, succulent bulbs and fragrant seeds—three harvests from one elegant plant.