413 · Large Leaf Sorrel

About this plant

Large Leaf sorrel gives you big, tender, arrow-shaped leaves with a bracing lemony tang — the classic base for sorrel soup and the traditional sauce for salmon. Pick it hard through February to May while our weather suits it. Once real heat arrives it will bolt and scorch, so treat it as a cool-season star rather than a year-round fixture.

Planting it at home

When to plant out

Right away. Our low-desert planting window for cool-season plants ends about mid-February.

Where

Cool-season bed or pot with afternoon shade; plan to run shade cloth over it by May

Spacing

10+ in (San Diego Seed Company)

Size

10–20 in tall x 6–12 in wide (San Diego Seed Company)

Care

Sun

Full sun in winter — AFTERNOON SHADE / shade cloth essential as temperatures rise

Water

Consistent moisture — needs steady water; drying out triggers bolting

Feed

Light feeding only; too much fertilizer weakens the flavor (general guide).

Pick / harvest

Before flowering — cut the seed stalk out as soon as it appears; young leaves are best

Good to know

Grown from

Seed — sown by FHCG volunteers

Uses

Sorrel soup, sauce for salmon

Life cycle

Perennial

Heirloom or hybrid

Heirloom — saved seeds grow true

Pollinators

Poor — wind-pollinated, and you should be cutting the flower stalk off anyway.

Caution

High in oxalic acid: eat in moderation.

Days to harvest / bloom

40 days for baby leaf, 60+ days to full size (San Diego Seed Company)

Heat (our summer)

Low — heat-sensitive, bolts and scorches

Color

Bright green arrow-shaped leaves; reddish flower/seed stalks if it bolts

Edible

Yes — leaves. See oxalic acid warning.