Last edited on 16 Oct 2026. View history

Perilla

How to sow perilla: Direct seed, transplant seedlings, cuttings

Sun requirement for perilla: Plant in Full Sun

Perilla, or Beefsteak, is an upright, bushy annual to perennial plant (depending on the region) native to the Himalayas and Southeast Asia. Perilla is in the Mint (Lamiaceae) family and is related to basil and coleus. It is grown for it's edible leaves and seeds and as a medicinal and ornamental. Leaves are fragrant, ovate with serrated edges, and can be green, tinged with purple, or deep red (hence the name Beefsteak). Leaves have a pleasant sweetly spicy taste and can be added to salads and soups. Perilla is popular in Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Nepalese and Indian cuisine. The plant is heat and drought-tolerant, but can become invasive. Deadhead spent flowers to prevent Perilla from self-sowing.

2: plantings
0: harvests
0: seed packets

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Growing perilla

Annual

living and reproducing in a single year or less

Height

90cm

Spread

45cm

Row Spacing

60cm

How members grow perilla

Sunniness

Planted from

Varieties of perilla

shiso

Perilla frutescens var. crispa

Photos

Perilla crops

Photo by dansmall via iNaturalist (Copyright dansmall)

Where perilla grow

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What people are saying about perilla

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Who's planted perilla

ypgarden Garden · Mountain View, CA
dunia upstairs courtyard · Sydney

Perilla harvests

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Ecological requirements

Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Perilla frutescens (L.) Britton

Family / Taxonomy	Magnoliopsida Asteridae Lamiales Labiatae
Optimal temperature	5 - 30 °C
Optimal rainfall	250 - 600 mm/year
Optimal soil pH	5.5 - 7.2
Crop cycle	80 - 150 days
Life form	herb
Life span	annual
Habit	erect
Optimal soil depth	medium (50-150 cm)
Optimal soil texture	medium, organic
Optimal soil fertility	high
Optimal soil drainage	well (dry spells)
Optimal soil salinity	medium (4-10 dS/m)
Photoperiod	short day (<12 hours)
Optimal light	clear skies to very bright

Licensed under CC-BY-4.0 .

Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (2025) ECOCROP, the crop ecological requirements database. Version 1. https://data.apps.fao.org/catalog/dataset/ecocrop. Accessed through the CGIAR Climate Action Data Hub, https://cgiar-climate-data-hub.github.io/catalog/ecocrop_1/.

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Perilla