Salsify or Oyster Plant
Tragopogon porrifolius. ASTERACEAE.
Planting, Growing, and Harvesting
Salsify or Oyster Plant
You’ll find everything you need to know to plant and grow salsify in the accompanying table’s tabs:
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- How many salsify or oyster plants to grow
- Growing conditions for salsify or oyster plant
- When to plant salsify or oyster plant
- How to plant salsify or oyster plant
- Watering, fertilizing, and pruning salsify or oyster plant
- Companion plantings for salsify or oyster plant
- How to harvest, store, and use salsify or oyster plant
Growing Salsify or Oyster Plant
Salsify is a biennial, cool-season root vegetable. Salsify is narrow, long, and carrot-shaped. Young salsify is both tender and mild; with maturity, plants become strong flavored and stringy textured, with strap-shaped foliage, 2–4 ft. (60–120 cm) tall.
Salsify is often called “vegetable oyster” by vegans and vegetarians for its striking seafood flavor that varies, depending on the root’s age and growing conditions.
In its first season, salsify produces grasslike foliage up to 12 in. (30 cm) long around its growth point and developing root. Left to overwinter and grow a second season, it blooms with a ball-shaped, purple flower reminiscent of onion, matures seed, then dies.
Black or Spanish salsify, Scorzonera hispanica, is distant relative of true salsify, Tragopogon porrifolius, with black-skinned roots and white flesh. It has similar culture, care, and uses, but is a member of the sunflower family.
Salsify or Oyster Plant Plant and Care Guide
How Much to Plant
Allow 10 plants per household member.
How to Plant
Seed germinates in 14-18 days.
Average Climates: Sow seed or transplant seedlings in full sun in spring when soil warms to 40–60°F (4–16°C).
Mild-Winter Climates: Sow seed in early autumn.
Sow seed 1/2-in. (12-mm) deep, 1/2-in. (12-mm) apart, thinning to 3–4 in. (75–100 mm) apart, in rows 20–30 in. (50–75 cm) apart. Plant successions every 3–4 weeks.
Best Conditions for Growth
45–85°F (7–29°C). Zones 3–10. If temperatures exceed 85°F (29°C) for extended periods, roots will develop slowly and plants may fail.
Soil Type and Fertility
Moist, well-drained, sandy loam. Fertility: Rich. 6.0–6.8 pH. Prepare soil at least 2 ft. (60 cm) deep.
Proper Care
Easy. Keep evenly moist. Fertilize only at time of planting with 5–10–5 formula. Mulch in hot-summer climates. Cultivate. Pest and disease resistant.
Pairing Recommendations
Carrots, potatoes, rutabagas, sweet potatoes, and turnips.
Maturity, Picking and Gathering
120–150 days. Harvest as needed when 6–12 in. (15–30 cm) long, digging carefully with a garden fork. In cold-winter climates before the first hard freeze, mulch with 1–2 ft. (30–60 cm) of straw and 1–2 in. (25–50 mm) of soil.
How to Store and Preserve
Fresh in ground for 3–4 months; in vegetable keeper of refrigerator, 3–4 weeks; diced, steamed, and frozen, 6 months. Substitute salsify for oyster whenever the shellfish’s flavor is desired: eat raw slices as crudités; boiled and mashed on crackers as canapés; or battered with egg and cracker crumbs and fried in butter as mock oysters.