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Days to maturity
Seasonal yields
Sow indoors · Direct sow · Transplant outdoors
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Plant · P-028
Stinging Nettle
Urtica dioica
Stinging nettle carries fine hollow hairs on its stems and leaves that deliver a sharp, short-lived sting on contact, but cooking or drying destroys that sting completely and turns the plant into one of the most nutrient-dense leafy greens around, rich in iron and vitamins A and C. Traditional use runs deep: dried leaf and root turn up in remedies for hay fever, joint pain and an enlarged prostate, and the tough stem fibers can be spun into cloth much like flax. It spreads by rhizome into large, permanent patches on damp, rich ground, which makes it a steady source of compost material and liquid feed but a plant that needs a firm boundary once it takes hold. It relies on wind rather than insects for pollination, yet at least thirty insect species feed on its leaves.
Record at a glance
Growing profile
- Sun
- Full Sun · Partial Sun · Shade
- USDA zone
- USDA 4–9
- Soil
- Sand · Silt · Loam · Clay
- Moisture
- Moist · Wet
Vertical layer
Herbaceous- Soil pH
- 5.5–7.5
- Plant type
- Perennial
- Mature height
- 3–9 ft
- Mature spread
- 12–36 in
- Plant spacing
- 12–18 in
- Root type
- Rhizome
- Spread pattern
- Both
Keep exploring
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The deeper layer
Plan what comes next.
- Primary
- Locked ecological function
- Secondary
- Locked ecological function
- Byproduct
- Locked ecological function
Behind the record
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