Growing rucola in a pot?

[Cuddles]

So, I love my salads and I like to chop up some rucola into it to spice it up a little (also, the stuff is pretty healthy )
This year I´m thinking of growing it at home somehow, rather than buying it prepackaged from the supermarket.

I have found that it does go off too quickly sometimes and then I´ve not only wasted food but also money, which is even tighter than last year anyway.

I have no garden, so it will have to be indoors by the window. Maybe the balcony.

Does anybody here have experience growing rucola this way? Is there something I really should or should not do?
How often can you harvest from a single pot in total?

 

[exploziv]

Get some bolting resistant comercial variety. 2-3 harvest or more ifaer and starts flowering. (which is what bolting it for rucola)
Some general purpose nutrients will help once seedlings are estabilished. It will take some time to get out of seedling stage and start to be harvestable, so plan and plant ahead..
Oh and make sure u don't overplant or they will not like it! the seed pack should tell you the spacing, you could plant a bit tighter than that given you use fertile soil and they get enaugh light.

 

[Cuddles]

Get some bolting resistant comercial variety. 2-3 harvest or more ifaer and starts flowering. (which is what bolting it for rucola)
Some general purpose nutrients will help once seedlings are estabilished. It will take some time to get out of seedling stage and start to be harvestable, so plan and plant ahead..
Oh and make sure u don't overplant or they will not like it! the seed pack should tell you the spacing, you could plant a bit tighter than that given you use fertile soil and they get enaugh light.

thanks, I read that it doesn´t grow deep roots. do you think I can use the package in the pic for planint? Or should I use a regular plant pot (for house plants or other herbs?

 

[exploziv]

Well, that size of container would only grow one or 2 small plants, so i would go with bigger planters if possible.

 

[Cuddles]

Well, that size of container would only grow one or 2 small plants, so i would go with bigger planters if possible.

right, what is the smallest pot size I should use, because I want as much rucola as possible over the next 5 months

 

[exploziv]

I would take long planters that are about 4 inches wide or maybe a bit more, about the same tall, and plant every 2-5 to 3 inches going in zig zag patterns a bit offset from center. If bigger planters are available you could do 2 rows in 6-8 inches wide. It won't be very productive for a small space tho, you might want to add basils and leaf salads other leafy greens that can be eaten raw to your garden mix. Having variety in species means more harvest frame.

 

[Cuddles]

I´m beginning to wonder if it´ll be worth it at all, lol. But I´ll give it a go if I can get hold of some seeds.

the possibilities are very limited, as are my recources so I´ll have to try and make the most of it

 

[exploziv]

well, the satisfaction of growing something and then eating it is great!

 

[Cuddles]

Yes I know! I have always wanted a nice big garden so I can grow plenty of veggies and fruit! This winter I collected korean pear seeds and stuff but I can´t ever grow them

 

[exploziv]

You know pears don't usually breed true and will probably, like apples, yeld unpalatable specimens in most cases? they select the best varieties and graft them on the best rootstock.
But i can understand you! even an indoor garden helps sometimes!

 

[Cuddles]

well they couldn´t possibly turn out worse than the korean pears offered in the shop here occasionally! Those are really horrible - way too small nowhere near being ripe enough to eat and they have no flavour either. But I´m lucky because korean friends of ours import them straight from korea

Well, I´ll see what I can grow on the balcony or indoors this year. Some other lettuce maybe and as I don´t eat tomatoes peppers...? But these presumably require a very large grow pot

 

[exploziv]

basil is easy. so is chives. they take a lot to estabilish tho. salad is same as rucola needs more space, and also there is risk of bolting from heat or small containers. you can plant a lot of salad in a planter and start to eat at them once they get leaves that are finger size.. to thin them. Leaving just a few of them in that planter by the end, if you are lucky to have good conditions for them to form a salad head. If it starts to grow in height, thin leaves and yellowing and starts tasting bitter, eat it fast, as soon as you see signs, it won't be good for much time. Same with rucola. Younger one you can eat alone as a dressing. Older one or that is starting to bolt is more like a condiment to add to a salad. Powerful taste, a bit too much biterness in there.
Peppers and tomatoes in limited space is not gonna give you much return anyway, you best bet both as yeld over time and also possibly financially viable to cover your costs with soil and planters would be greens/microgreens.
regarding the pears.. well, you can only hope.