Crop lessons · Leafy greens
Eruca sativa · Brassicaceae (cabbage family)
Arugula, also called rocket, is a fast, peppery salad green from the Mediterranean that Florida gardeners sow from fall through spring. Leaves are ready about six weeks after sowing. Heat is the usual problem: warm weather pushes it into flower and the leaves turn bitter.1, 2, 3
| Region | Months on the UF/IFAS calendar |
|---|---|
| North Florida | January transplant · February transplant · March transplant · October transplant · November transplant · December transplant |
| Central Florida | January transplant · February transplant · March transplant · October transplant · November transplant · December transplant |
| South Florida | January transplant · February transplant · March transplant · October transplant · November transplant · December transplant |
Months follow UF/IFAS Gardening Solutions, "What to plant by month"; "transplant with care" is their wording for crops that resent root disturbance. Not sure of your region? Find your county.
| How to start | seed or transplant (easily transplanted) |
|---|---|
| Seed depth (inches) | ¼ |
| Spacing in the row (inches) | 3 to 4 |
| Between rows (inches) | 10 |
| Days to harvest | 35 to 60 from seed |
SP 103 planting dates: north Florida Sept to Mar, central Sept to Mar, south Oct to Mar. Sow every two to three weeks from fall through spring for a steady supply.
| Sun | Full sun. SP 103 advises a garden spot with at least six hours of direct sun a day (general advice, not specific to this crop). |
|---|---|
| Soil pH | 5.8 to 6.3 (SP 103's general target for vegetable gardens on sandy soil; no change is needed anywhere from 5.5 to 7.0). No crop-specific figure was found. |
| Water | General SP 103 advice: young plants need light, frequent watering and maturing plants deeper, less frequent watering; vegetables will not tolerate standing water. Sandy soils need watering more often than clay, muck or amended soils. |
| Fertilizer | SP 103 notes that leafy crops such as lettuce, kale and collards benefit from side-dressings of a nitrogen fertilizer during the season (general advice for leafy vegetables). |
Hot weather makes arugula flower; once it flowers or gets leggy the leaves can be too bitter to eat.
Pick single leaves as you need them or cut the whole plant when it is 8 to 10 inches tall. Use it quickly: FY1548 says arugula keeps only a day or two in the refrigerator.
well suited
The FAO manual puts salad rocket (arugula's other name, per UF/IFAS FY1548) among the leafy greens and herbs with low nutrient demand, and lists it among crops commonly grown in aquaponics. It says leafy greens generally do extremely well, grow best in cooler conditions (14 to 20 °C) and bolt at 26 °C and above, so in Florida this is a cool-season aquaponic crop.
Your county extension office and its Master Gardener volunteers can fill these in for your garden.
Every fact above is restated in our own words from these documents, written 2026-11-02. Independent of the University of Florida.