Florence fennel, also known as bulb fennel, is grown for its tender bulbs and is quite different from herb fennels. In this video I show how fennel is sown, grown and harvested in a no dig garden.
Florence or bulb fennel, is an umbellifer of the same family as carrots, parsnips, celeriac and chervil. Eaten raw, the sweet aniseed flavour is refreshing in summer and lends character to salads. Gentle cooking brings out a sweet and creamy quality, delicious in soups, ratatouille or on its own with garlic and parsley. The feathery leaves are edible, with a dill-like flavour.
This bulbing vegetable is completely different to the types of long stemmed fennel, grown as a herb.They are cultivars of this same plant and are often called ‘fennel’, which results in confusion. They are perennial and can grow large, also they drop seeds at the end of summer which can become a weed problem. Best solution is to harvest the seeds in September before they fall, for cooking.
Bulbs will start to swell on the surface after about six weeks, and if all goes well they fatten to over 450g (1lb). Any bolting tendency would initially show as elongation of small bulbs, before or at which point they are best cut and eaten. Trim off all stalks to enjoy the unusual and rich flavours.
I sow fennel into module trays, using about 60% homemade compost, with the rest being proprietary compost, and the fennel seed is quite large and easy to handle.
You can succeed fennel with one bulb per station about nine inches, or 22 centimetres, apart, and if you have more plants together they will grow, but you’ll get smaller bulbs.
🎥 Filmed 14th February to September 2025
Filmed by Carly Dutton-Edwards
In Homeacres No Dig Garden, Somerset, UK
🎵 Music: Rory Dunwoodie, @rorydinwoodiemusic IG: rorydinwoodiemusic
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#nodig #fennel #nodiggardening #vegetablegardening #growyourownfood
00:00 Introduction
00:28 Ingredients for potting mix, and a myth!
01:38 Sowing the seed, options for multisowing
03:45 Timing of sowing
04:11 Four weeks later – removing weaker seedlings
05:09 Growth comparison between two trays of seedlings
06:29 Transplanting in a mixed bed
10:47 Watering, then fleece over hoops
13:20 Harvesting, two months later
14:47 Two options for sowing dates
15 Comments
Good morning Charles 🌞
Hola Charles, gracias siempre aprendiendo del mejor ,lindo día 🇨🇱
Cheers Charles for the video! My goal next year will be to make my own seed starting mix, like you do. I'm wasting so much money on commercial seed starting mix. I had little success making my own the first 2 years and just gave up on it.
Excellent. And Minty agrees❤😂. Thank you.
Minty certainly Loves being on camera 😻
I do enjoy these how-to videos. Partly because sending a link of you doing it is easier than me explaining it! They are also a healthy reminder for myself.
It's so cold here! I don't even want to go out. Love thinking about finocchio which I try to have in some stage all summer. Thank-you!
Just put my black currant in yesterday along with my waldo blackberries on the opposite side of the bed😊
Nutrients will only mess up seed starting if you use nutrient salts 😂this is why organic is just better for ease of use and on top of that flavour. I think the non organic fertilisers have given everyone this misconception for using compost for seed starting, the only problem i have os stopping the weed seeds starting as well but ive just started nuking it in the microwave as it can get some microbes back afterwards anyway and my compost didn’t get hot enough this time
Fab sweater with the veg embroidery
I've got some volunteer fennel in one of my cold frames , 😊 im quite lucky
Amazing video as always. One question please do you use liquid fertilizer during the growth of these seedlings while still in pots? Thanks in advance. Wish you success and lots of harvest. ❤ from Canada
Thank you 😊 ❤😊
I was completely unable to grow fennel from your videos before I realized that regionalized bulb fennel was so important for colder growing zones!
I have been really enjoying these, thank you