Exposure Full-sun
Season Warm season
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Perilla frutescens var. crispa. Green Perilla shiso seeds make a wonderful addition to any herb garden. This profoundly flavourful culinary herb is used across south and east Asia, and has been used in Chinese medicine for thousands of years. Relatively unfamiliar to many Western gardeners and cooks, its distinctive, broad, round leaves combine with Thai basil, cilantro, mint, and other powerful leafy herbs. This hardy annual can grows to 60cm (24) tall. Shiso is a heat loving plant that thrives in summer as basil does, in well drained soil in full sun. Pick leaves as needed in summer, and then harvest the flowering tops in late summer. Harvest the open pollinated seeds in early fall for planting the next year.
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Latin
Latin
Perilla frutescens var. crispa
Family: Lamiaceae
Difficulty
Difficulty
Easy
Season & Zone
Season & Zone
Season: Warm season
Exposure: Full sun
Timing
Timing
Start indoors in early spring, a couple of weeks after the last frost date, or direct sow outdoors in late spring, once night time temperatures are steadily above 8Β°C (45Β°F).
Starting
Starting
If starting indoors, use equal parts sterilized seed starting mix to perlite. Mix well and add to seed trays with domes. Use bottom heat from a Seedling Heat Mat to maintain a soil temperature of 20Β°C (70Β°F). Seeds should germinate in 7 to 14 days. Be careful not to over-water, particularly once seeds have germinated, as the seedlings are prone to damping off. Remove the dome at germination, but maintain bottom heat until seedlings are large enough to pot on into larger containers.
Alternatively, direct sow outdoors into well-drained garden soil. Seeds should germinate in 14 to 20 days.
Growing
Growing
Shiso does best in full sun to partial shade, in fertile, well-drained soil. Allow transplants to become established, and then grow as you would basil β pinch growing tips regularly to produce bushier plants with more leaves. Water regularly, more so in hot weather. If growing in containers, mix equal parts potting soil and composted fine bark. Orchid bark works well.
Harvest
Harvest
Pick leaves as needed throughout the summer, and harvest the flowering tops in late summer. As autumn approaches, harvest the seeds for planting next spring.
Seed Info
Seed Info
Usual seed life: 1 year.
West Coast Seeds is a family-owned company that embraces an organic lifestyle. A group of imagination catalysts and passionate educators, dedicated to producing products and services that better the environment. As part of our mission to repair the earth, we aim to inspire and empower people to take responsibility for the state of the planet. For us, organic is about much more than saying no to chemicals, it is about saying yes to building a healthy soil for the future.
For over 35 years, we have upheld our strong reputation as a leading seed supplier, seeking out the highest quality untreated seeds for organic growing and putting them through rigorous independent testing. We built our company on the exchange of generational wisdom in a masterclass community of newbies and masters alike. Our world may have changed, but our commitment to our people, our customers, and our planet has not.
Weβre a values-based business that has blossomed into a lifestyle ethos, with products that support seeders, feeders, keepers, and the tiniest of creepers. Our mission? To mobilize the next generation of gardeners with products that nourish soil and grow vigorous, sustainable gardens. We believe all plants should be grown without the use of chemicals, and that the seeds we supply are an important component of regenerative gardening.
We donβt just offer seeds, we offer experience, insight, and understanding. From timeless garden wisdom to new tech know-how, this is learning on the job: knowledge gleaned not from the pages of a book but from burying our fingers in the soil. We test, experiment, observe and adapt, never happier than when we get to share what weβve learned with others.
Gardens donβt just grow seeds. They grow minds and imaginations, people and communities. Our vision encompasses both the micro and the macro. We eat locally, protect pollinators, teach people to grow from seed, and support regional biodiversity. We think big but act small and deliver unexpected impact β always with community and purpose.
At West Coast Seeds we believe in the power of small and that little can be large. Like the tiniest seed germinates to evoke incremental change with massive potential, so to can our community of gardeners and growers together. Gardeners are the earthβs stewards, planting seeds of creative declaration. The soil provides the canvas, we provide the seeds.
Start indoors in early spring, a couple of weeks after the last frost date, or direct sow outdoors in late spring, once night time temperatures are steadily above 8Β°C (45Β°F).
If starting indoors, use equal parts sterilized seed starting mix to perlite. Mix well and add to seed trays with domes. Use bottom heat from aΒ Seedling Heat MatΒ to maintain a soil temperature of 20Β°C (70Β°F). Seeds should germinate in 7 to 14 days. Be careful not to over-water, particularly once seeds have germinated, as the seedlings are prone to damping off. Remove the dome at germination, but maintain bottom heat until seedlings are large enough to pot on into larger containers.
Alternatively, direct sow outdoors into well-drained garden soil. Seeds should germinate in 14 to 20 days.
Shiso does best in full sun to partial shade, in fertile, well-drained soil. Allow transplants to become established, and then grow as you would basil β pinch growing tips regularly to produce bushier plants with more leaves. Water regularly, more so in hot weather. If growing in containers, mix equal parts potting soil and composted fine bark. Orchid bark works well.
Pick leaves as needed throughout the summer, and harvest the flowering tops in late summer. As autumn approaches, harvest the seeds for planting next spring.
