How to Grow Epazotes UK
On this page
- Epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides)
- When to Plant Epazotes in the UK
- Quick Facts
- At a Glance
- Soil & Growing Conditions
- Growth Stages
- Harvest & Storage
- Diseases
- Pests
- Epazote, Handle With Care
- Plan your Epazotes planting
- What the research guides add
- Growing Epazote in another region
- References
- Frequently Asked Questions
In the UK, epazote goes in the ground early March to early May.
Timing is the decision that matters most in the UK: sowing early March, and that same window applies across all 4 regions covered here.
The short answer
- Plant
- Early March to early May
- Site
- soil pH 6.5–7.5
- Biggest risk
- Lettuce mosaic virus
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.
Epazote (Dysphania ambrosioides)
6 sources cited · Verified
When to Plant Epazotes in the UK
When to plant epazotes in the UK: in Southern England, sow early March to early May. Find your area in the table below.
Quick Facts
At a Glance
Soil & Growing Conditions
Growth Stages
Harvest & Storage
Diseases
Pests
Epazote, Handle With Care
Plan your Epazotes planting
When to sow and plant Epazotes depends on your own frost dates. Check the UK vegetable planting calendar. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.
What the research guides add
Epazote is a Mexican herb that NC State also classes as a weed, which tells you how easily it grows.
- An annual or short-lived perennial from the tropical Americas that grows 2 to 5 feet tall with many irregular side branches. (NC State Extension)
- It does best in full sun and moderately fertile, moist, well-drained soil, but also grows in sandy and rocky soils of disturbed sites. (NC State Extension)
- It flowers from summer into fall, sets numerous seeds and readily reseeds. (NC State Extension)
- The leaves are used in Mexican dishes and are said to negate the gas-causing effects of beans; NC State cautions that the dose used medicinally to remove intestinal worms can be toxic. (NC State Extension)
Sources for this section
Section researched and checked on 25 October 2026 by the SoilCommander Editorial Team. How we check facts: editorial policy.
Growing Epazote in another region
Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.
References
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A secondary gardening reference rather than a university or horticultural authority, used as the primary source as the RHS species page is a stub with no growing detail, explicitly disclosed. A culinary herb native to Mexico, Central and South America, growing to about 4ft tall with long, serrated leaves emitting a fairly strong, kerosene-like odour; small, pale yellow-greenish flowers. Also called Jesuit's tea, Mexican tea, wormseed. USDA zones 8-12 as a perennial, 4-12 grown as an annual (frost-tender). Full sun. Soil: loose, organically rich, average, sandy, well-draining; pH 5.2-8.3; extra fertiliser produces less flavourful leaves. Sow indoors in early spring or direct outdoors at 70°F soil temperature, seeds soaked 24 hours then lightly pressed in with scant cover; germinates in 7-14 days, faster with bottom heat; thin to 6in apart; succession sow every 2-3 weeks. Reaches 4ft tall by 18in wide, maturing to first harvest in 55 days. Harvest by cutting or tearing young leaves from the centre stem -- young leaves are milder yet richer in flavour than older ones. Pests: thrips, treatable with insecticidal soap. Diseases: lettuce mosaic virus, tomato spotted wilt virus -- the plant acts as a host reservoir for these viruses with no treatment available; severe infections require plant removal. CRITICAL WARNING: contains ascaridole, a toxin -- overconsumption may cause deafness, vertigo, paralysis, incontinence, jaundice, sweating, and even death; use only in small quantities, and avoid entirely for young children and pregnant women.
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PFAF entry for Dysphania ambrosioides. Fetched and parsed directly for the USDA hardiness rating.
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Botanical family Amaranthaceae, synonym Chenopodium ambrosioides. Native range: Americas, Subantarctic Islands. Other common names: American wormseed, epazote, Spanish tea, wormseed. This RHS entry is a basic plant profile without growing-guide detail (no hardiness, sun, soil, or pest/disease information given).
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Mirrors FAO Ecocrop. Fetched and parsed directly for the numeric soil pH range.
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Chemistry article, cited to primary toxicology literature. Ascaridole is a peroxide monoterpene and is toxic, with a pungent, unpleasant smell and taste. It is the principal constituent of the essential oil of Dysphania ambrosioides (epazote), where it makes up to 70% of the oil. Corroborates the toxicity attribution used on the epazote record.
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Species article, cited to toxicology and ethnobotany literature. Essential oil contains ascaridole as its primary compound, up to 70% of the composition. HUMANS HAVE DIED from overdoses of D. ambrosioides essential oil, attributed to the ascaridole content; poisoning symptoms include severe gastroenteritis with pain, vomiting and diarrhoea, dizziness, headache, temporary deafness, kidney and liver damage, convulsions and paralysis. Used as a leaf herb in traditional Mexican cooking in measured amounts, with leaves collected before the plant goes to seed. Ascaridole content is LOWER in epazote from Mexico than in epazote grown in Europe or Asia. Sometimes becomes an invasive weed in temperate regions, and ascaridole inhibits the growth of nearby species.
6 independent sources are cited for this crop. Where they disagree - soil pH is the clearest case - every figure is preserved rather than averaged into false precision.
Frequently Asked Questions
When should I sow epazote in the UK?
In Southern England, from early March. In Scotland, wait until early March. Treat these as a guide rather than a fixed date — the governing rule is to sow only once frost risk has passed and temperatures are reliably warm enough.
When do I sow epazote?
Sow early March to early May.
What soil pH does epazote need?
A pH of about 6.5–7.5. That span reflects genuine variation between the authorities we cite rather than a single agreed figure — the References section lists each source's exact range.
What problems affect epazote?
Our data links 2 diseases and 1 pest to this crop. See the sections above for each one and how to manage it.
Plan next season before the problems start
Most of the advice on this page comes down to timing and spacing — sowing at the right moment, rotating beds, and giving plants enough airflow. The UK Garden Planner lays your plot out month by month so those decisions are already made before the season starts.
Get the UK Garden Planner →Instant PDF download · Written for UK growing conditions
How this guide is put together
The growing data on this page — sowing windows, pests, diseases, soil and site requirements — comes from named horticultural sources, listed in References below, checked against RHS and Met Office guidance. An automated pipeline assembles that verified data into the page you're reading: it selects which facts to lead with and builds the surrounding prose and layout. It does not invent a date, a source or a number — where a verified value for a field isn't available, the page leaves it out rather than guessing. A person reviews and publishes each page; nothing goes live unverified.
Last verified 2026-10-25
Plan Epazotes by month
The months this guide gives for sowing or planting, each with the full list of jobs for that month in the UK:
More from the same group (leaves & salads):
Growing advice for your part of the UK
Timing and conditions change a lot inside one country. These guides cover frost dates and growing seasons region by region.
Where To Go From Here
Take this crop from reading into a written plan for your own beds.
Keep going
Plan the next step
Use the printable SoilCommander planner for your region to turn this guide into sowing dates, bed layouts and weekly garden tasks.