French Sorrel Care

Give your sorrel plants regular water; at least 1 inch per week. Mulching will help conserve moisture and keep the leaves clean.

Sorrel is happiest when started in a rich soil, but you should amend the soil each year with more organic matter and possibly side-dress with compost or granular fertilizer applied mid-season.

Plants will grow best in full sun, although a little partial shade will keep them going longer into summer.

Choose a spot with good drainage. Sorrel likes a slightly acidic soil pH; somewhere in the range of 5.5 to 6.8. Since sorrel is grown for its leaves, a soil rich in organic matter will give you lots of leafy, green growth.

Sorrel plants are reliably perennial in USDA hardiness zones 5 and higher, but they are commonly grown as annuals in zones 3 through 7, starting with new plants each spring. Older plants can become tough and less flavorful. Established plants can handle a light frost.

Sorrel is an excellent choice for container growing. You should use at least a 6-inch pot, but 8 to 12 inches is ideal. One advantage of growing in pots is that you often keep the sorrel growing longer than plants in the ground because you can move the containers out of the sun on warm days.

While sorrel leaves are safe for humans to eat, the plant contains soluble oxalates that are toxic to dogs, cats, and horses. Ingestion of small amounts of sorrel typically causes gastrointestinal upset, but eating large amounts and/or frequent ingestion can cause twitching (muscle fasciculation), weakness, seizures, and arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats).

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