Crop type: Rocket
Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa ‘Runway’
Common name: Salad rocket ‘Runway’
Crop slug: rocket
This Allotment Pro editorial draft summarises the cited RHS cultivar profile and its linked crop guidance. Check the sources and adjust cultivation decisions for local conditions.RHS cultivar profile
1 - Overview
‘Runway’ is a fast-growing salad rocket with peppery, deeply serrated leaves. It belongs to the annual cultivated rocket Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa, so it reaches harvest quickly and is best resown little and often rather than treated as perennial wild rocket.
The exact RHS plant profile is sparse and records the cultivar name as unresolved. The linked crop guide supplies the sowing, care and harvest contract while the recommended-variety entry establishes its fast growth and defining leaf form.
2 - Size
- Plant type
- Compact fast-growing annual rosette
- First harvest
- Usually four to six weeks from sowing
- Final spacing
- 15cm
- Minimum container width
- 30cm
Thin plants promptly to prevent competition and premature flowering. Compact growth suits containers and narrow salad beds.
3 - Growing conditions
- Soil
- Fertile, moisture-retentive and freely drained
- Container medium
- Peat-free multipurpose compost
- Moisture
- Consistently moist
Prepare a fine weed-free surface and improve light ground with mature compost. Sow seed no more than 1cm deep with 15cm rows, then thin to 15cm. Even moisture supports rapid tender growth.
4 - Position and hardiness
- Cool seasons
- Sun
- Early and midsummer
- Light shade
- Protected cropping
- Greenhouse, cold frame or cloche
- Life cycle
- Annual
Summer shade reduces heat and moisture stress and delays bolting. Indoor sowings can begin in February or March, with outdoor sowings from April to early September and later crops protected into autumn.
5 - Colour and seasonal interest
‘Runway’ produces green elongated leaves cut into deep, sharp serrations. The rosette appears finer and more jagged than rounded ‘Victoria’, with a distinctly peppery salad character. Creamy-white, purple-veined flowers with yellow stamens may follow, but annual leaf production ends when the plant bolts.
6 - Botanical details
- Family
- Brassicaceae
- Genus
- Eruca
- Species
- Eruca vesicaria subsp. sativa
- Native to Great Britain and Ireland
- No
- Name status
- Unresolved
Genus
Eruca contains annual brassicas including cultivated salad rocket. Plants bear edible mustard-flavoured foliage and creamy-white flowers with purple veins.
Safety
The leaves and flowers are edible. Wash harvests and exclude crops contaminated by animals or unsuitable treatments.
7 - How to grow
Cultivation
Sow a short row or small container every few weeks. Thin to 15cm and water before soil dries. Harvest a few outer leaves from each plant after four to six weeks, keeping summer containers in light shade. Remove bolted annual plants and replace them with the next batch.
Propagation
Propagate from seed. Seedlings emerge within a few days in warm bright conditions. Harden indoor-raised plants and transplant when about 10cm tall. Selected plants may self-seed if allowed to mature.
Suggested locations
- Allotment salad bed
- Patio container or windowbox
- Growing bag or hanging basket
- Greenhouse border
- Peppery cut-and-come-again mix
Pruning
No pruning is required. Regular leaf picking encourages fresh growth. Removing the first flower stalk only postpones the end of an annual crop briefly.
Pests
Flea beetles produce small rounded holes, while slugs and snails can destroy seedlings. Protect young plants and sustain vigorous growth.
Diseases
No particular disease is recorded in the concise cultivar profile. Avoid crowding and stagnant compost and rotate with other brassicas.