Edible plant · roots bulbs

Burdock

Arctium lappa

Also known asGobo · Greater burdock · Edible burdock · Beggar's buttons · Niúbàng

intermediate warm-season single

Use in garden planner

Days to harvest

100–150

Yield / plant

0.4kg

Spacing

15 cm

Daily light

14–22DLI

Environment

The bounded range this crop tolerates.

Temperature

5152535

10–28°C

45.578.5

6–7.5

EC (hydro)

01234

1.2–1.8 mS/cm

Daily light

5152535

14–22 mol/m²/d

✓Single harvest

Climate and zones

USDA zones: 3–10 (winter low around -40°C)
Frost: very hardy (survives deep cold)
Season: warm (summer, frost-sensitive)

✓Outdoor year-round (in zone)

✓Outdoor in growing season

·Unheated greenhouse / hoop

·Heated greenhouse

·Indoor (heated home)

·Indoor hydroponics + grow lights

Growing systems

Root mass: very heavy. Thin-channel systems can't hold this crop.

·Deep water culture (rafts)

·NFT channels

·Vertical / aeroponic tower

·Drip / Dutch buckets

·Media bed (ebb and flow)

·Wicking bed

✓Soil bed

Growing media

Medium	pH effect	Retention	Bacterial surface
Soil-based mix (Potting soil)	varies	high	high

Nutrient demand by stage

NPK ratios are relative weights. EC targets shift through the plant's life.

Stage	N	P	K	EC (mS/cm)
seedling	1	1	1	0.7
vegetative	2	1	2	1.5

Aquaponics suitability

Not recommended

Fish waste alone doesn't supply enough of what this crop demands. Grows in hybrid systems with supplemental dosing, but expect active management.

Care notes

A specialty root crop that needs a very deep medium, 40 cm at minimum and ideally 60 cm, to take the long taproot. Standard NFT or DWC systems will not grow it; use deep raised beds, tall containers or media beds filled with loose, obstacle-free substrate such as perlite, vermiculite or a sand-perlite mix, since any stone or compacted layer forks the root and ruins market quality. Hold EC around 1.2-1.8 mS/cm and pH 6.0-7.0. Grow at 15–25°C with moderate light, 14-22 mol/m2/day. From seed to root harvest is about 100 to 120 days. Harvest by loosening the medium and easing the root out whole, since broken roots lose quality fast. Cut surfaces brown quickly, so hold cut pieces in acidulated water (a splash of vinegar or lemon) to keep them pale. For aquaponics growers with deep media beds it is an unusual crop few local growers offer, useful for markets serving Japanese or health-food customers.

Notable varieties

Cultivar	Type	Days	Notes
Takinogawa Long	open pollinated	120	Japanese heirloom, the most-grown cultivar for gobo. Slender straight roots to 60-90 cm. Faster to harvestable size than the wild type, with milder flavor and less woody core. Available through most Asian seed catalogs.
Watanabe Early	open pollinated	100	Earlier-maturing Japanese selection. Shorter roots (40-50 cm) than Takinogawa Long, which suits standard raised beds. Slightly sweeter flavor. The variety to start with if you've never grown burdock and don't have a 90 cm deep bed.