Grow Fennel Sweet Florence for crisp white swollen leaf bases, fresh green fronds and a mild anise-and-celery flavour for salads and cooked dishes.
Ready to grow firm Florence fennel bases at home? Follow our step-by-step Fennel Grow Guide for Sweet Florence for direct sowing, transplant care, bolting prevention, regional timing and harvest advice.
Quick Grow Facts
- Plant Type: Florence or bulb fennel grown for swollen above-ground leaf bases
- Scientific Name: Foeniculum vulgare 'Sweet Florence' (Florence/Azoricum bulb-fennel group)
- Named Type: Sweet Florence; no breeder, hybrid or open-pollinated claim is declared
- Seed Form: Raw, unpelleted seed
- Pack Sizes: 5 g and 40 g raw seed; live availability varies
- General Sowing Time: Spring / Summer on the stocked packet; choose the cooler, steadier part of your local season
- Position: Full sun in fertile, moisture-retentive but freely drained soil
- Sow Depth and Light: Cover 0.5 cm; light is not required for germination
- Germination: 714 days on the stocked packet; aim for about 1524°C and allow up to 21 days in cool conditions
- Pretreatment: None required; sow dry seed
- Method: Direct sow preferred; use one seedling per deep cell if transplanting
- Spacing: 25 cm on the packet, with rows about 3045 cm apart; 1015 cm only for intentional mini vegetables
- Growth Form: Upright green foliage above a compact white swollen leaf base; no support or pinching needed before harvest
- Harvest: 6090 days on the packet; inspect from day 60 and allow longer in cool or stressed conditions
Why Grow Sweet Florence?
- The firm white base has a crisp texture and mild sweet anise-like flavour.
- Use it thinly sliced or grated raw, or steam, grill, roast or braise it.
- Clean young fronds and stalks can also be used in the kitchen.
- This is the bulb-style fennel in the family; Smokey Bronze will not produce the same crop.
Sowing and Care
- Direct sow 0.5 cm deep where plants will mature, then thin carefully to 25 cm without disturbing the roots you keep.
- If using modules, sow individually and transplant the intact young plug at two to three true leaves after 57 days of hardening.
- Keep soil evenly moist, mulch after establishment and avoid heavy nitrogen feeding. Dryness, cold shocks and root disturbance can trigger bolting.
- When the base begins to swell, lightly mound clean soil around it if you want a paler crop, but do not bury the crown.
- Harvest before the centre elongates into a flower stalk; a bolted base can turn woody.
Harvest and Safety
Cut the firm swollen base at soil level when roughly 510 cm across, or harvest smaller as a mini vegetable. The "bulb" is a cluster of swollen leaf bases, not a root. Rinse the base, stalks and fronds under clean running water before use; do not use soap or produce wash.
Do not eat the sowing seed. "Raw seed" describes an unpelleted physical form and does not prove that a lot is chemically untreated. Follow the physical lot label and use only locally registered edible-crop controls according to their labels and harvest withholding periods.
Brought to you by Ubuntuberg Seeds, where our mission is to cultivate humanity & harvest unity. Ubuntuberg Seeds: the highest quality seed stock in all of Southern Africa, sourced from sustainable farms, guaranteeing you the best quality seed stock.
