Florence fennel
Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum
In a typical UK garden, sow indoors early April to mid-July, sow outside mid-May to early August, plant out early May to mid-August, and harvest mid-July to mid-November.
When to sow, plant and harvest
Last frost around 20 April, first frost around 31 October.
- Sow indoors
- early April to mid-July
- Sow outdoors
- mid-May to early August
- Plant out
- early May to mid-August
- Harvest
- mid-July to mid-November
Growing facts
- Spacing
- 30 cm apart, rows 30 cm apart
- Square foot
- 1 per square (30 cm squares)
- Sowing depth
- 1 cm
- Ready in
- 50 to 75 days from planting out
- Grows to
- 60 cm
- Hardiness
- Half hardy: survives light frost, to about −2 °C
- Sun
- Full sun
- Crops for
- One harvest
Growing tip
Sow from early summer, in modules or where it is to grow; cold, dry soil or root disturbance makes it bolt.
Neighbours
Roots are one crop rotation group. Try not to grow them where any of the family grew in the last two or three years. How crop rotation works
More roots
Where these figures come from
Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For florence fennel, we used:
Grow florence fennel with VegLog
Add florence fennel to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.
