Borage
Borago officinalis
In a typical UK garden, sow indoors late March to mid-April, sow outside early April to mid-June, plant out mid-April to mid-May, and harvest early June to late October.
When to sow, plant and harvest
Last frost around 20 April, first frost around 31 October.
- Sow indoors
- late March to mid-April
- Sow outdoors
- early April to mid-June
- Plant out
- mid-April to mid-May
- Harvest
- early June to late October
Growing facts
- Spacing
- 45 cm apart, rows 60 cm apart
- Square foot
- 1 per 2 squares (30 cm squares)
- Sowing depth
- 1 cm
- Ready in
- 50 to 70 days from sowing
- Grows to
- 60 cm
- Hardiness
- Hardy to about -5 °C
- Sun
- Copes with some shade
- Crops for
- About 8 weeks
Growing tip
Sow it where it is to grow, because the taproot resents transplanting. It self-seeds freely, so pull out unwanted seedlings early.
Neighbours
Grows well with
Flowers are one crop rotation group. Try not to grow them where any of the family grew in the last two or three years. How crop rotation works
More flowers
Where these figures come from
Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For borage, we used:
Grow borage with VegLog
Add borage to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.
