Salsify and scorzonera: Sowing, planting and harvest calendar
When and how do you sow salsify and scorzonera outdoors?
Sow white salsify or scorzonera directly in their final position in spring, once the soil starts warming and can be worked without sticking to your tools. March to April is a useful guide in temperate climates, but adapt the timing to your region. Avoid sowing into frozen or waterlogged ground.
Choose a sunny place with deep, loose, well-drained soil. Remove weeds and stones, then loosen compacted layers that would obstruct the long roots. Simply hoeing the surface is insufficient if the soil underneath remains hard. Avoid fresh manure, which encourages forked roots, and rake the surface to a fine texture.
Use fresh seed, as its ability to germinate declines quickly. Make drills about 1 to 2 cm deep, leaving 25 to 30 cm between rows. If the soil is dry, water the bottom of each drill before scattering the seeds thinly. Cover with fine soil, firm lightly and water gently with a fine rose.
Keep the seedbed moist without saturating it. Seedlings may take two to three weeks to emerge, sometimes unevenly. Once they are large enough to handle, thin them to leave roughly 10 to 15 cm between plants. Weed carefully near the young roots and look for slug damage as soon as seedlings appear.
How to care for this plant
-
Thin seedlings
Wait until your salsify or scorzonera seedlings have emerged well, then thin crowded sowings to about 10–15 cm apart. Remove weaker seedlings carefully without disturbing the roots you are keeping.
How do you harvest scorzonera (black salsify)?
Harvest scorzonera roots, also called black salsify, from autumn onwards. This plant is distinct from white salsify. In well-drained soil, you can leave the roots in the ground and lift them as needed through winter, before growth resumes and flower stalks develop.
Work when the ground is not frozen. Insert a garden fork away from the roots, gently lift the soil and free the long roots rather than pulling only on the leaves. Avoid breaking them or leaving them to dry in the sun.
Use damaged roots promptly. To store healthy roots out of the ground, gently remove loose soil and place them in slightly moist sand somewhere cool and frost-free. Check their condition regularly; storage for several months is not guaranteed.
Start by carefully freeing one root to judge its length before continuing along the row. If it resists, loosen more soil beside it rather than pulling harder: the slender root breaks easily. Keep roots intended for storage whole and unpeeled. Remove the dark skin when preparing them for cooking; scorzonera can release a sticky sap, so peeling after briefly precooking the roots can make the job easier.
Salsify and scorzonera
- Type : Vegetables
- Subtype : Root vegetables
- Botanical Family : Asteraceae (daisy family)
Characteristics
- Lifecycle : Annual
- Exposure : Full Sun
- Frost Hardiness : Frost Resistant
- Cultivation Difficulty : Easy
- Mature height : 60 cm
Sowing & Planting
- Greenhouse Growing : Not Required
- Sowing Depth : 1 cm
- Plant Spacing : 10 cm
- Row Spacing : 20 cm
Maintenance
- Maintenance : Moderate
- Water Requirements : Moderate
Other characteristics
- Soil Type : Humus-rich
- Soil pH Preference : Neutral
- Pest Sensitivity : Moderate
- Disease Sensitivity : Moderate
- Weed Sensitivity : Moderate
- Pollination : Insect-pollinated
- Propagation : Sowing