Fennel, or pharmacy dillIts 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 time-consuming.
But among gardeners there are those who are interested in how to plant and grow fennel in the country.
Fennel description
Fennel is a perennial crop and belongs to the umbrella family. Often gardeners grow it as an annual plant. Most popular fennel vegetablewhich they love for tasty and healthy fruits - heads of cabbage.
In fennel erect stem height of about two meters. It has blue bloom and thick 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.
Did you know? Fennel is edible almost entirely: its roots are consumed after heat treatment, shoots are added to different dishes, onions are used raw or prepared, seeds and greens are used as seasoning, and oil is used in baking, in the alcoholic and medical industry.
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. Note 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 and adding organic fertilizers.
Important! Growing fennel in the middle lane, do not expect that he will be able to overwinter. In this case, it should be grown as a one-year-old, only to get fragrant herbs. However, if you can warm it well for the winter, in the future you will be rewarded with excellent fruits, as the flowering stems and inflorescences begin to grow only in the second year.
In order for fennel to safely spend the winter, it needs to be warmed 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 several 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 the cloth, then roll it up and lower it into any container filled with growth stimulant (it is possible in a weak manganese solution).
Important! The seeding rate of fennel seeds is 3-10 kg / ha. When sowing you need to make superphosphate at the rate of 50 kg / ha.
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:
- 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 warming is required. Regardless of the time of year, planting fennel with seeds is done 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 a film before sowing. This is done in order not to lose moisture. The distance between the rows should be 50-60 cm. 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.
- Growing fennel seedling method. 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 needs to be dived 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. Often it happens that the plants can not fully form heads when sowing seeds (they are hampered by a long day of light).
Fennel, sown in early spring, does not require additional care, whereas in autumn sowing additional warming is required. Regardless of the time of year, planting fennel with seeds is done by digging them 2-3 cm into the soil.
Important! Planted fennel need a little distance from other vegetables. With a lack of moisture, the plant produces long roots that take it from other cultures. But the spinach, beans, peppers and cumin adjacent to fennel have a negative effect on its development and inhibit growth.
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 worse survival rate. It is very important that when cutting the 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 structure of the soil 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).
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.
Important! Before hilling a fennel bush, you can install protection (a plastic ring cut from their two-liter bottle). It is necessary to protect the plant from sticking soil.
Fennel: when and how to harvest?
Heads of vegetable fennel cut off almost near the surface of the earth (they begin to clean when the diameter is 8-10 cm). If you cut a head of cabbage 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 scape 10 cm. You can also keep the heads in the refrigerator, but they will not be there for more than a week.
Growing ordinary 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 greens is late evening or early morning, during the dew. 
Did you know? The pleasant aroma of fennel, which somewhat resembles dill and anise, can be made even brighter by rubbing or lightly roasting it.
How to get fennel seeds for planting?
To get fennel seeds, you must wait two years until it blooms. The culture will tell you when the seeds have ripened - at this time the inflorescence will change in color. It is from greenish to yellow-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.
Cultivation of fennel in the open field is quite simple. It is important to follow all the basic rules, fertilize and moisturize the soil, and then your efforts will not keep you waiting, and the pleasant aroma of fennel will be spread throughout your garden.
