Growing Sorrel: A Complete Profile
By Growing Home Greens Team · August 10, 2026
Sorrel’s whole appeal is the sharp, lemony bite that no other salad green has, a tartness sharp enough that a few leaves change the character of a whole bowl. Cooked, that acidity softens into something closer to spinach with a citrus edge, which is why it turns up in classic French sorrel soup.
Sowing it for a steady cut
Direct-sow 1/4 inch deep from midspring through midsummer, or start indoors in cell trays at the same depth. For a cut-and-come-again baby leaf harvest, sow thickly, 3 to 5 seeds per inch in rows at least 2 inches apart; for larger bunching leaves, thin plants to 8 inches apart in rows 12 to 18 inches apart. Baby leaf is ready in as little as three weeks.
A perennial that keeps producing
Unlike most salad greens, sorrel is a genuine perennial and will keep sending up new leaves for years from the same crown, hardy through zone 3. Regular cutting keeps it productive; letting it flower and go to seed pulls energy away from leaf production, so pinch out flower stalks as they appear if continuous harvest matters more than seed.
Cooked mellows what raw doesn’t
A small amount of raw sorrel goes a long way in a salad; too much and the tartness overwhelms everything else it’s mixed with. Cooking tames that intensity considerably, which is why sorrel soup and sorrel sauce use far more leaf per serving than a raw salad ever would.
Sorrel has no well-established companion pairings, and nothing it needs to be kept away from. At 4 plants per square foot, it fits the Garden Designer’s grid the same way spinach or arugula does, but give it a spot it can stay in for more than one season since it’s perennial.
Source: Sorrel: Key Growing Information, Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Companion planting guide for Sorrel · Find your planting dates
Typically viable in USDA zones 3-9. Not sure your zone? Look it up by ZIP code.
Mature height: 0.5-1 ft
Method: Either: Start indoors for an earlier harvest, or direct-sow outside for less fuss. Either works.
When to plant sorrel, by zone
Every zone sorrel grows in. Pick your zone in the header and it will be highlighted here. Each zone links to its full page.
| Zone | Start indoors | Sow or plant out | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3a & 3b | Apr 25–May 2 | May 16–May 23 | Jul 5–Jul 12 |
| 4a & 4b | Apr 10–Apr 17 | May 1–May 8 | Jun 20–Jun 27 |
| 5a & 5b | Apr 5–Apr 12 | Apr 26–May 3 | Jun 15–Jun 22 |
| 6a & 6b | Mar 21–Mar 28 | Apr 11–Apr 18 | May 31–Jun 7 |
| 7a & 7b | Mar 6–Mar 13 | Mar 27–Apr 3 | May 16–May 23 |
| 8a & 8b | Feb 18–Feb 25 | Mar 11–Mar 18 | Apr 30–May 7 |
| 9a & 9b | Jan 11–Jan 18 | Feb 1–Feb 8 | Mar 23–Mar 30 |
Harvest dates are about 50 days after the sow or plant-out date, not after starting seeds indoors.
See exact start-indoors, direct-sow, and harvest dates for your zone →
How many Sorrel plants fit per square foot?
Spacing: 4 per square foot (square-foot-gardening spacing). Mature height: 0.5-1 ft.
Varieties worth considering
- Straight-species garden sorrel (Rumex acetosa): Johnny's Selected Seeds sells this as the standard culinary type; there's no meaningful named-cultivar market beyond it and the ornamental red-veined form grown more for looks than flavor. This is the one to buy for eating. (source)
Why each variety is listed comes from the source shown next to it. We haven't grown these ourselves yet, so treat this as a research-backed starting point, not a personal endorsement. The buy links are separate from those sources: they go to seed suppliers that sell that exact variety, and we may earn a commission on some of them.
Where to buy sorrel seeds
Botanical Interests · True Leaf Market · High Mowing Organic Seeds (each supplier's sorrel seeds)
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See it growing
Search YouTube for "growing sorrel" videos → (a live search, not a hand-picked video; results vary and aren't vetted by us)
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Growing Sorrel: A lemony, perennial salad green ready to cut in as little as three weeks, with a sharp bite that mellows into something closer to spinach once cooked.
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