How to Grow Sorrel
On this page
Sow sorrel once soil temperature reaches 15°C.
Unlike an annual crop, the work here is front-loaded into establishment: get the planting and the site right and the same plants crop for several seasons.
Core growing advice on this page is checked against named horticultural sources — see References.
Sorrel (Rumex acetosa)
5 sources cited · Verified
Soil & Growing Conditions
Growth Stages
Quick Facts
At a Glance
Harvest & Storage
Pests
Plan your Sorrel planting
Timing for Sorrel follows soil temperature and frost, not the calendar date. The Global vegetable planting calendar explains the method. To work out where it fits in your beds, sketch your plot in the free Garden Layout Planner.
What the research guides add
Sorrel is a perennial leaf herb, and the Missouri Botanical Garden names the milder alternative that many cooks prefer.
- A perennial herb grown mainly for its leaves, which are used in salads and cooking; plants reach about 2 feet tall with basal clumps of 4 to 6 inch arrowhead-shaped leaves. (Missouri Botanical Garden)
- The leaves have a tangy, acidic, sour-lemony flavour and the youngest leaves have the best flavour. (Missouri Botanical Garden)
- It self-seeds and can spread in the garden. Many food experts prefer French sorrel (Rumex scutatus) for culinary purposes. (Missouri Botanical Garden)
Sources for this section
Section researched and checked on 25 October 2026 by the SoilCommander Editorial Team. How we check facts: editorial policy.
Growing Sorrel in another region
Sowing dates, frost timing and local advice differ by country. Use the guide for where you garden.
Sources
These source is specific to this region. The full list of 5 sources behind this guide (GBIF, Royal Horticultural Society, University of Minnesota Extension) is in the references of our UK guide to sorrel; they describe the plant itself, which is the same wherever it grows.
Frequently Asked Questions
What soil pH does sorrel need?
A pH of about 5.5–6.8. 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.
Plan next season before the problems start
This page gives you the thresholds; the planner turns them into your own calendar. It works from what you can observe and measure in your garden rather than from dates written for somebody else’s latitude.
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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 international horticultural research and extension sources. 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.
Related Problem Guides
Last verified 2026-10-25
Related guides
More from the same group (leaves & salads):
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.