Herb guide

Chervil

Anthriscus cerefolium · Annual

Can be grown from seed in the ground, in a container, or as a microgreen. Sensitive to bolting in hot temperatures, so it wants moist soil and partial shade.

What it needs indoors

Light: Partial shade
Water: Keep moistKeep the soil moist
Temperature: Cool; bolts in heat
Growing medium: Moist, well-draining
Native range: Woodland edges of the Caucasus and southern Russia
Difficulty: Enthusiast

What usually goes wrong

Bolts within a month of sowing

Heat. Chervil is a cool woodland-edge plant, and the warm bright sill that suits basil is the fastest route to a flower stalk.

Fix: Coolest room in the house, out of direct sun, with a fresh sowing every three weeks. It makes a far better winter herb than a summer one.

Leaves bleach to a pale yellow-green and dry at the edges

It grew up under a canopy, and full exposure through glass scorches it.

Fix: North-facing window, or a foot or two back from a brighter one. Bleached leaves will not green up again, so cut them away and let it push new growth in the shade.

Seedlings stall or collapse after being pricked out

Taprooted like the rest of its family and it resents being handled.

Fix: Sow thinly straight into the pot it will live in, and thin with scissors instead of pulling. A small sowing often beats one big pot.