One of the biggest nuisances in the summer vegetable garden is bolting - when crops put on a vertical growth spurt to flower and set seed before the vegetables are ready for harvest. The result is inedible, bitter-tasting leaves or poor-quality produce with little that can be salvaged...
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One of the biggest nuisances in the summer vegetable garden is bolting - when crops put on a vertical growth spurt to flower and set seed before the vegetables are ready for harvest. The result is inedible, bitter-tasting leaves or poor-quality produce with little that can be salvaged...
View more »
One of the biggest nuisances in the summer vegetable garden is bolting - when crops put on a vertical growth spurt to flower and set seed before the vegetables are ready for harvest. The result is inedible, bitter-tasting leaves or poor-quality produce with little that can be salvaged...
View more »
One of the biggest nuisances in the summer vegetable garden is bolting - when crops put on a vertical growth spurt to flower and set seed before the vegetables are ready for harvest. The result is inedible, bitter-tasting leaves or poor-quality produce with little that can be salvaged...
View more »
"Bolting" applies to certain vegetables and is a problem for gardeners. Learn what it is, how to identify it, why it happens, and how to avoid it.
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"Bolting" applies to certain vegetables and is a problem for gardeners. Learn what it is, how to identify it, why it happens, and how to avoid it.
View more »
"Bolting" applies to certain vegetables and is a problem for gardeners. Learn what it is, how to identify it, why it happens, and how to avoid it.
View more »
"Bolting" applies to certain vegetables and is a problem for gardeners. Learn what it is, how to identify it, why it happens, and how to avoid it.
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Come learn what makes certain plants bolt, flower, or go to seed, how flowering effects plants, and six ways to prevent plants from bolting!
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You may have come across an article warning of a plant bolting or a description of a plant that has ‘bolted’. If you are unfamiliar with the term but spend a lot of time in the garden, don’t worry, you’re plants aren’t going to pull up their roots and run away. But this can be a costly problem that will ruin harvests if not managed correctly. With summer fast approaching, here are some tips to help save your crops.
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The plant above is spinach, and it’s getting ready to bolt.
As we approach the summer solstice, the spring garden is transformed into something quite different. Various plants begin to behave in new ways. Growth really kicks in for vine-forming plants, while other leafy greens suddenly go to seed. The term “bolting” is not immediately intuitive, especially to new gardeners. But it’s a term that must be understood to maximize success in the garden.
All plants have the genetic prerogative to make seeds, but they employ different strategies, and react differently to changes in the seasons. A large number of common garden vegetables are grown in spring (and again in the fall), when the soil is cool, before the long days of summer have arrived. These vegetables are grown for their edible leaves — as opposed to many of the summer-harvest crops that we grow for their roots or fruits. Lettuce, spinach, pac choi, arugula, mustard greens, and chicory are all included. Basically, salad greens. A few herbs are also included, like cilantro and parsley.
These plants all thrive in cool soil. As the days get longer and the average soil temperature increases (becoming quite hot at mid-day), these plants bolt, or “run to seed.” These odd phrases describe the speed with which some plants can produce a flower stem, go into bloom, and then produce seeds. The sudden shooting up of the flower stem is the fastest phase, and it can be really quick. Some plants can produce a flower stalk that grows several inches per day. Over the course of a weekend, a tasty rosette of leaves can be completely transformed.
Heat in the soil triggers this process, and once it starts it is irreversible. Breaking the stem off will simply cause more stems to emerge. As the plant’s survival strategy changes, its cell structure changes. All its energy goes into flower production. From the plant’s perspective, time is running out. Its leaves may become bitter or unpleasantly spicy, and the leaves of some plants even sprout tiny hairs. Essentially, a bolted plant is no longer good for eating.
A gardener might interpret plants bolting as a signal to put leafy vegetable production on hold for the summer and focus instead on all those other, heat-loving crops, from turnips to tomatoes.
The photo above shows some flats of arugula in our greenhouse. They’re a bit late for planting out into the field, but at first glance, they look healthy and tidy.
On closer inspection, though, it appears that these plants have nearly all begun to bolt. Look at what emerges from the centre of the rosette of leaves.
Tiny at first, the flower buds shoot upward, growing and expanding as they do. The hairs emerge to make them unpalatable to grazing animals (and people). Below, the leaves have become sharply spicy.
So the longer days of summer and the heat of the soil causes stress to these plants, which in turn causes them to bolt. Can bolting be caused by other stresses? Oh, yes.
Plants in the carrot family tend to develop long, tapered, carrot-like tap roots. When these plants are disturbed by transplanting or becoming pot-bound (running out of space to grow in a container), the plants respond to the stress by bolting. These plants include dill, caraway, cumin, cilantro, and a few others. It’s generally better to direct-sow these plants instead of trying to transplant them.
Bolting is a response to temperature and day length or other root stress. It should not be confused with plants that simply become mature and bloom. We grow certain plants to harvest as large flower buds. Think of broccoli, cauliflower, and Brussels sprouts. The parts of these plants that we eat are simply unopened flower clusters. It’s tempting to think of a head of broccoli as being frozen in time somehow, since the ones we buy at the supermarket appear to be inanimate. But when there’s broccoli growing in the garden, the plant fully intends on making flowers and seeds — so when it’s ready, it must be harvested. When gai lan or choi sum are ready to eat, eat them. Or freeze, can, or pickle them. They won’t wait for the gardener to be ready.
The best advice for new gardeners is to plan seriously on growing cool-season plants in the cool season. Watch your plants every day. When they look their best, don’t delay. Be sure to make the most of them at the peak of their freshness, and enjoy seasonality in real time.
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What is bolting?
Bolting describes an edible, frost-tolerant plant like lettuce, cilantro, or other greens quickly going to seed, before we would like. Signs that your plant might be bolting are when it gets taller than its maturity height and flower heads appear. In many cases, these changes make the vegetable flavor bitter, stems or roots woody, and, in general, unpalatable.
Why do plants bolt?
A rise in temperature, a cold period, changes in day length, or other plant stresses are factors that most often cause plants to bolt. When stress goes on long enough, plants switch their energy to survival of the species and therefore form flowers for reproduction, thus bolting.
How can bolting be prevented?
Plant in the right season. Many cool-season or frost-tolerant crops like broccoli, lettuce, or radishes mature better before temperatures get into the 80s, so you'd have to plan accordingly. For example, if your springtime usually heats up quickly, start earlier, or plant in late summer, fall, or even winter, depending on your climate, when you have reliably cool weather. Also, certain crops, like winter radishes, will only form a nice root if they are planted in late summer or fall because the days get shorter.
Avoid stress. Keep plants watered consistently. Transplant or transfer seedlings to a larger pot before the roots get crowded ("root bound") and remember to harden off plants before transplanting.
Use row cover or plant in the shade of other plants to keep greens and lettuce cool as the season warms. Mulching a spring crop early can help keep the soil and roots cooler, prolonging the harvest.
Cover young broccoli or cauliflower plants and near-mature bulbing onions during a cold snap to protect them from bolting. In the case of young broccoli and cauliflower, if young plants are stressed into flowering, the small plants will only produce small heads (which are actually un-opened flowers).
Sow quick-maturing plants like lettuce, cilantro, or radish regularly. Succession sowing can keep some plants always coming into maturity instead of relying on one sowing to last a long time without bolting in the garden.
Choose varieties that are "bolt resistant", "long standing", or are described as "holding well" or having a long harvest period. These varieties resist the environmental stresses that press them toward flowering.
Try using seaweed or kelp liquid fertilizer , which are known to help plants handle stress better.
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Bolting is the term applied to vegetable crops when they prematurely run to seed, usually making them unusable. A cold spell or changes in day length initiates this behaviour. It can affect a wide range of vegetables including lettuce, spinach and fennel.
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If you're a newbie vegetable gardener, maybe you've heard that plants can bolt. But what does this mean? Learn more about bolting now on Gardener’s Path.
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Bolting vegetables in early summer can be quite frustrating, and even puzzling. You might think to yourself, "Why is this happening?!"
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Bolting is part of the natural plant life cycle, but when you want an optimal harvest, you don't want your plants to bolt. Here is what you need to do...
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A common phenomenon in the summer vegetable garden is bolting - when crops produce a flowering stem prematurely before it can be harvested.
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Bolting can happen suddenly and ruin an entire crop in a vegetable garden. But what is bolting and can we prevent it? Find out why bolting occurs, recommended seeds to sow, and best practices to lower the risk of bolting.
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The blame for bolting vegetables is often placed on warm temperatures, but the true trigger is often the cold.
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Like an arrow from a bow, many plants may suddenly send up new growth, covered with flowers. This is called bolting.
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