Notes
Bolt-resistant bulb fennel. Fall planting is more reliable than spring in the Southeast. Do not transplant late — check at 3 weeks. Hill slightly as bulbs swell.
Cultivars / Root crops
Orion
Fennel · Foeniculum vulgare var. azoricum
DTM
80 d
94 d occupancy · hardy
Rows
3
8 in in-row
Density
4.5
plants / bed-ft
Yield
4.5
heads / bed-ft
Direct $/ft
$13.86
$3.50 / head
Propagation
- Method
- Transplant
- Cell size
- 128s
- Nursery lead
- 28 d
- Germination
- 10 d
- Germ temp
- 50°F – 80°F (opt 70°F)
- Seed spacing
- 2 in
Field geometry · 30 in
- Bed width
- 30 in
- Rows / bed
- 3
- In-row
- 8 in
- Seed spacing
- 2 in
- Plants / linear ft
- 4.5
- Plants / 50 ft
- 225
Timeline
- DTM from field
- 80 d
- Holding
- 14 d
- Occupancy
- 94 d
- Multicut
- no
- Fall photoperiod
- ×1.15
- Frost hardiness
- Hardy
Yield & revenue
- Sales unit
- head
- Units / bed-ft
- 4.5
- Avg unit wt
- 0.7 lb
- Target lb / bed-ft
- 3.1 lb
- Cull rate
- 12%
- Wholesale / Direct
- $2.00 / $3.50
Irrigation
- Drip lines / bed
- 2
- Emitter spacing
- 8 in
- Emitter GPH
- 0.42
- Weekly water
- 1 in
- GPH / 50 ft
- 63
- Gal / week · 50 ft
- 77.9
Soil extraction
- Fertility demand
- Moderate
- N / 100 bed-ft
- 1.2 lb
- P / 100 bed-ft
- 0.35 lb
- K / 100 bed-ft
- 1.5 lb
- N-P-K / 50 ft
- 0.6 / 0.2 / 0.8 lb
- Family
- Apiaceae
On this farm · 50 ft block
- Season window
- 2026-03-04 → 2026-11-10
- First greenhouse
- 2026-02-04
- First harvest
- 2026-05-23
- Successions that fit
- 3 · every 21 d
- Bed-ft for 50 lb
- 19 ft
- Seed for 50 ft
- 265 seeds · 225 plants
- Wholesale / Direct · 50 ft
- $396.00 / $693.00
Companions
pea · cucumber
Avoid
tomato · bean · coriander