Dandelion greens / Common dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) growing guide

Quick facts

Category: leafy greens
Difficulty: beginner
Days to harvest: 60 to 95 days
Harvest type: cut leaves, plant regrows for repeated harvests
Spacing: 20 cm between plants

Environment

Temperature: 7–22°C
pH: 6 to 7.5
EC (hydroponic): 1 to 1.6 mS/cm
Daily light: 12 to 18 mol/m²/day

Climate and zones

USDA zones: 3 to 10 (winter low around -40°C or warmer)
Frost tolerance: very hardy (survives deep cold)
Season: cool (spring and fall crops)

Viable growing environments:

outdoor year-round (in zone)
outdoor in growing season (annual)
unheated greenhouse / hoop house

USDA zone bounds reflect outdoor year-round survival. Anywhere outside the bounded zone range, this crop still grows as an annual in the warm months (outdoor_seasonal), under cover (greenhouse), or indoors under lights.

Growing systems

Dandelion greens works in:

media bed (ebb and flow)
wicking bed
soil bed

Growing media

The substrate the roots sit in. Choice depends on the system (clay pebbles don't fit NFT channels; rockwool isn't used in media beds) and the crop (dandelion greens works in the media listed below).

Medium	pH effect	Water retention	Bacterial surface
Soil-based mix (Potting soil)	varies by source	high	high
Coco coir (Coconut coir)	slightly acidic	high	moderate

Bacterial surface area matters for aquaponics: clay pebbles, lava rock, and pumice double as biofilter substrate. Low-surface media (rockwool, perlite, pea gravel) work in hydroponics but need a separate biofilter in aquaponics.

Nutrient demand by stage

NPK ratios are relative weights at each growth stage; the nutrient mix calculator scales them to absolute grams or ml. EC targets shift through the plant's life: seedlings need a much lighter solution than fruiting adults.

Stage	N	P	K	EC target (mS/cm)
seedling	1	1	1	0.8
vegetative	2	1	2	1.3

Aquaponics suitability

Not recommended for pure aquaponics. Fish waste alone doesn't provide enough of the nutrients this crop demands (typically potassium, calcium, or boron). It can be grown in a hybrid system where the reservoir is supplemented with hydroponic-style nutrients, but expect to dose actively.

Care notes

An extremely easy hydroponic green that's almost impossible to fail with. EC 1.0-2.0 mS/cm. pH 5.5-7.0. Temperature: 10–22°C (cool-season crop for best flavor; heat increases bitterness). Low to moderate light (DLI 10-16 mol/m2/day; like chicory, dandelion tolerates partial shade). NFT, DWC, or media bed systems all work. From seed to baby leaf harvest: 4-5 weeks. Full-sized leaves: 7-9 weeks. The cultivated varieties are significantly less bitter and larger-leaved than lawn dandelions. Blanching (covering the plant to exclude light for 7-10 days before harvest) reduces bitterness dramatically and produces pale, tender leaves that are milder and more marketable. Harvest outer leaves for cut-and-come-again production. The plants are perennial and regrow vigorously after cutting. For commercial hydroponic growers, cultivated dandelion greens fill a specialty niche at farmers' markets and restaurants. The French salade preparation (blanched greens with warm bacon vinaigrette and a poached egg) is a classic that sells well at farm-to-table restaurants.

Notable varieties

A starting shortlist of cultivars worth knowing about. Not exhaustive: the seed catalogs list hundreds of named varieties. These are the ones home growers commonly choose between.

Cultivar	Type	Days	Notes
Amélioré à Coeur Plein	open-pollinated	85	French market-garden cultivar, the standard pissenlit you'll find in seed catalogs. Larger, fuller rosettes than the wild type and the leaves self-blanch as the rosette tightens. Less bitter than the lawn dandelion.
Vert de Montmagny	open-pollinated	90	Québécois heirloom, the most cold-hardy cultivated dandelion. Survives zone 3 winters under snow and starts producing the moment the ground thaws. Slightly more bitter than Amélioré but better suited to cold-climate gardens.
Thick-leaved	open-pollinated	75	Common UK trade name for a thick-leaved selection from Chiltern Seeds and similar. Vigorous, quick-growing, broader leaves than the French types. Less ornamentally pretty but more productive per square foot.