Fennel - anyone grown it?

[bikermike]

freebie seeds with the mag this month, thought I might give it a go. Any views?

[lottie dolly]

I have had some goes at it,but it bolts before big enough,how ever,i also got a fee pkt,re read the instructions,does NOT like to be transplanted,so yesterday,i put a few seeds a few inch apart,and pushed em in the ground to the depth it said,and when they appear,and are strong enough to be recognised,will thin out and leave 1,you see before i sowed in modules,i recone THATS why they bolted,so will see what happens this time,

[bikermike]

hmmmm, I fear that if I plant it in the allotment as a seed, all that will happen is that the birds will complain the slugs taste funny...

might try a few in pots and a few direct and see what happens...

[nickdub]

I grew the bronze fennel from seeds quite a long time ago - very pretty and self seeds like buggery - so its still around.

[mat]

If it's bulb fennel you're growing, then the absolute key is - don't sow it until July! It bolts if sown before mid-summer. It needs to do its growing while the days are getting shorter, not longer, and will stand happily well into the autumn.

[Miss Mousetrousers]

Oh blast! My niece has taken over two of my veg beds and we sowed some fennel seeds last week. Methinks we'll hoick them out and do it later.

[bikermike]

Are the different kinds? (you can see how much I know about this plant). It looked bulby on the pic on the packet IIRC

[burnie]

Florence or bulb fennel is grown for the swollen stems and taste a bit aniseedy, Bronze Fennel is grown as an 'erb for the foliage, however all I get is bolted plants that I chewed the stems to get a gel like substance that tasted like licorice. I posted in the seed sowing thread that I too will give it one last chance outside as it has failed two years running under cover.

[Chippy Minton]

Grew it successfully for the first time last year. Went into a bed where something else had failed / been slugged / eaten by the pesky pigeons, hence went in in July. Was successful. Seems the trick is to get it in late enough it doesn't bolt but early enough that it has enough light to generate a bulb. Ours was "baby" fennel, but tasted lovely!

[Penellype]

I've grown it starting it off in pots and planting out into the ground or buckets when it is a couple of inches high. As others have said, it bolts if you plant it too early, which is odd as the packets always seem to tell you to sow in April/May. My bulbs weren't big, the slugs had some of it, and a couple did bolt, but I had some nice small bulbs and it lasted well into the autumn.

The variety I tried was Sirio, but having finished the seeds I'm going to try Romanesco this year - it says it is resistant to bolting, so I intend to try it on the allotment sown a bit earlier. If it survives the slugs it will be interesting to see what happens.