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Fennel (Bulbing) sprite
VegetablesHalf-HardyBiennial

Fennel (Bulbing)

Bulbing fennel, often called Florence fennel, is grown for swollen pale stems with a mild sweet aniseed flavour. It differs from herb fennel because the harvest is the enlarged base, which is best when grown fast and kept juicy.

Basic information

Category
Vegetables
Lifecycle
Biennial
Hardiness
Half-Hardy
Planting partners
0 companions · 12 crops to avoid

Growth profile

Days to harvest
100 days
Germination window
7–14 days
Germination temperature
15–22 °C
Plant spacing
30 cm
Row spacing
30 cm
Sowing depth
1 cm
Height
120 cm
Spread
30 cm

Calendar

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Sow Indoors
Sow Outdoors
Plant Out
Flowering / Harvest
Timings based on average frost dates in the UK. Sign up to set your frost dates.

Care tips

Sow or plant fennel only once conditions are settled and warm enough for uninterrupted growth, because checks can trigger bolting. Keep soil evenly moist throughout bulb formation, avoid disturbing roots, and earth up lightly if you want cleaner paler bulbs.

Common pests

Slugs, aphids, bolting, root disturbance checks.

Companions

No companion crops have been added yet.

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