Rocket

Rocket is grown for its young, tender leaves, harvested as a peppery salad green. Because it grows so quickly, it is well suited to intensive baby-leaf production and to filling short gaps in cropping programs, and it is grown year-round in many places using protected cropping.

Salad rocket grows and matures faster and has a milder flavor, while wild rocket is slower, more strongly flavored, and more persistent, offering repeated cuttings over a longer period.

Family

Brassicaceae (cabbage or mustard family)

Salad rocket

Eruca vesicaria — fast-growing annual with lobed leaves

Wild rocket

Diplotaxis tenuifolia — finer-leaved, more pungent, short-lived perennial

Growth habit

Low-growing leafy rosette that bolts to flower under long days and warm conditions

Rocket is native to the Mediterranean region and western Asia, where it has long been gathered and grown, and it has become a globally popular salad crop, particularly with the growth of baby-leaf and mixed-salad markets.

Because it is largely a fresh, short-cycle vegetable, detailed production statistics are limited; available figures are compiled by FAO and national agencies and should be consulted directly.

Rocket is a cool-season crop that grows best in mild temperatures, producing tender, well-flavored leaves. Hot conditions and long days encourage rapid bolting and increase pungency and bitterness, so summer crops are often grown in cooler periods or under protection.

Its speed of growth allows successional sowings to provide a continuous supply across the cooler parts of the year.

Rocket grows best on fertile, moisture-retentive but well-drained loams and sandy loams that support rapid, tender growth. Even moisture and good fertility are important for leaf quality in this fast crop.

Rocket is direct-seeded, often at high density for baby-leaf production, in successional sowings for continuity of supply. Rotation away from other brassicas helps limit shared pests and diseases, and protected cropping extends the season.

• Successional direct sowings for a continuous supply of young leaves
• Rotation away from other brassicas to limit shared pests and soilborne disease
• Protected cropping to extend the season and improve leaf quality
• Prompt, repeated harvesting of young leaves before bolting

Rapid leaf growth is supported by adequate nitrogen, but as with other leafy vegetables, excessive nitrogen can promote nitrate accumulation and soft, disease-prone growth. Balanced fertility on fertile soils generally meets the needs of this short-cycle crop.

Consistent moisture is important for the fast, tender growth that gives rocket its quality, and irrigation is widely used, especially in baby-leaf and protected production. Moisture stress slows growth, toughens leaves, and hastens bolting.

Downy mildew is a leading disease of rocket, particularly in cool, humid conditions and dense baby-leaf stands, and white rust, damping-off, and bacterial leaf spots also occur. As a brassica, rocket can host clubroot, an important reason for rotation.

Flea beetles are a characteristic pest, peppering the leaves with small holes, and aphids, caterpillars, leaf miners, and slugs also damage the crop. Because rocket is eaten raw and often unwashed, management emphasises rotation, protection such as fine netting, sanitation, and, where warranted, locally authorized controls applied according to their labels.

Rocket is harvested young, by cutting whole plants or individual leaves, often on a cut-and-come-again basis that allows one or more regrowth cuttings. The tender leaves are highly perishable and are cooled and marketed promptly.

• Fresh peppery leaves used in salads and salad mixes
• Leaves used as a garnish and on pizzas and cooked dishes
• A common baby-leaf component in bagged and mixed salads
• Home-garden use as a quick, easily grown salad crop