Successful fennel growers this way please...

[Bearnecessity]

I grew my first fennel this year...it grew beautifully had it in a good few months I have just picked it and it did not flesh out and make a good fat bulb. What is there tastes great but is just a few slender stalks...disheartened....advice please...

Well, as long as you didn’t sow herb fennel tar her than bulb fennel, then it’s a quite tricky thing to grow. It often bolts unless you sow it later in the year. And if you sow it later it often gets either enough sun but nit enough water, or vice versa.

Feeding it can help.

Hi Golightly, ''twas bulb fennel....yes has proved tricky....there must be a knack...

Why, just WHY would you want to grow fennel??!! Its the devil's bum hair pustules!! 🤢😁

Its gorgeous and expensive. Lovely thinly sliced raw as a salad or in a salad. Fabulous braised with parmesan and lemon juice. I've grown it well twice and not grown it about 10 times! There was no rhyme or reason for the times it worked. I think I a late showing is probably better..

The RHS has just run a trial of fennel, and claims it is easily grown. I sometimes wonder about them.

Steady on Fairy dust it is scrumptious.I agree MereD...might be easy for Alan T and Monty D...

Mine is disappointing too. As were the kohl rabi and purple sprouting broccoli. I'm still waiting for the celeriac to amount to something.

Oh celeriac I love that too...mind you I could end up with a load of too tricky veg at this rate. I've got a couple of courgette plants that chuck out profuse flowers week in week out not a courgette in sight...my chard grows like the clappers as do the Savoy cabbages when the slugs not wolfing down...

I've had a steady supply of courgettes, runner beans and chard and some good cabbages. The sweet corn looks promising and I have some tiny aubergines and peppers in the mini green house.

I have trouble with kohl rabi. I think it needs to be reasonably warm and to grow fast. Autumn for us began about 3 weeks ago.

My kohl rabi plants were massive with huge leaves but no sign of any swelling tubers (or whatever they are). In the end I pulled them out so I could use the space and planted more lettuce and some parsnips.

Fennel doesn’t do much it’s first year. You have pulled it up waaaaay too early. It is very easy to grow and self seeds everywhere. Just have patience 💖

@rincewindspotato

Fennel doesn’t do much it’s first year. You have pulled it up waaaaay too early. It is very easy to grow and self seeds everywhere. Just have patience 💖

This is news to me I thought it was an annual. Do I leave it there over winter then?

Good question Captain....how long should I be leaving it? I thought it was an annual...more details Rice...purrrleaseee...

Sorry Rince...

Bulb fennel is an annual.About 14 weeks to harvest from sowing.

Apparently they need a lot of feeding.

I think mine was in 16 weeks....I will try again with the continual feeding then....