Fenugreek
An annual aromatic herb, easy to grow and delightful when in bloom.
About the variety. Leaves and seeds with a distinctive flavor, widely used as a seasoning; thrives best in sunny spots and reaches 40–60 cm in height.
Itinerário técnico
Um guia de cultivo passo a passo, da sementeira à colheita.
Sow direct half a centimetre to one centimetre deep, or in trays for transplanting at four or five weeks. Germination takes seven to fourteen days with the soil between 15 °C and 22 °C. Sow once, in spring, when the soil warms, because the aim is to let the plant flower and ripen its seed. Fenugreek is a legume: it needs no nitrogen and enriches the soil, so it also works as a green manure between crops.
It adapts to ordinary soils as long as they are loose and free draining, at a pH between 6.0 and 7.5. Over rich soil gives large watery leaves with far less aroma. Essential oil concentration is higher in average soils with a degree of water restraint.
It prefers full sun to part shade and temperatures between 15 °C and 22 °C. Summer heat is welcome at flowering and ripening: in full sun the seed fills and dries better. It adapts to most of western Europe. On the Portuguese coast and in southern Spain sow in spring and let the plant go through summer, which is when the seed ripens. Inland in Iberia water more through the dry months. In France and Germany the natural season is spring and summer, sowing once the soil has warmed steadily. In Italy the same rule applies as in the rest of the Mediterranean: spring and autumn in the centre and south, spring and summer in the north.
It asks for little and an over rich soil works against it. Soil that was composted for the previous crop is enough, with no extra feeding. Excess nitrogen gives soft, watery growth with little flavour and much greater sensitivity to pests and cold.
Water regularly without waterlogging, keeping the soil slightly moist. Water shortage brings flowering forward and toughens the leaf. Water in the morning at the base, so the foliage dries through the day.
Hoe often and always shallowly, because the roots are short, near the surface and break easily. The best method is to prepare the bed two or three weeks in advance, let the first flush of weeds germinate, remove it and only then sow: that gives you a decisive head start. A thin layer of sieved compost between the rows greatly reduces later work.
Pests are few because the plant's aroma keeps many insects away. Aphids are the commonest problem and gather on the soft shoots, above all on over fed plants: cut off the affected tips and apply potassium soap. Red spider mite appears in dry heat and in pots, and is checked by wetting the foliage in the morning. Slugs and snails devastate seedlings: protect with an ash barrier in the first weeks. Thrips and leafhoppers are occasional and rarely need action.
Downy and powdery mildew appear in humid conditions with no airflow, and collar rot in waterlogged soil. Sow with enough space, water at the base and avoid wetting the foliage in the afternoon. Remove any plant showing disease at once, because in dense sowings it spreads within days. The commonest problem is damping off in an over watered tray: water sparingly and in the morning until the second leaf.
For leaf, cut the young tips before flowering; for seed, let the plant run to the end of its cycle. The pods turn yellow and dry at the end of summer: pull the whole plants when the lowest pods crack when squeezed. Dry in the sun on a cloth, thresh and store the seed in a closed jar. Allow about 90 to 120 days from sowing to the first harvest of this variety. The reference colour is green, and that is what tells you it is ready.
