Growing Cilantro

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Let’s talk cilantro. A culinary delight in Spanish, Indian, and Asian cooking to name a few, cilantro is a delicious addition to any southern herb garden. It is easy to grow and like most herbs, is relatively pest free. As a cool weather grower, this is a great time to throw some cilantro plants in the garden or seeds in a pot so that you can harvest the lacy leaves throughout the cool seasons. So let’s go for it!
Cilantro3Planting cilantro is pretty standard, but there are a few things to consider. First, as stated, it is a cool season annual, meaning when the weather starts getting hot, the plant will start to produce seed heads and then die. So make sure to plant as the weather is getting cooler. Full sun (6 hours a day) is best, but a little afternoon shade is fine.

At this time, if you want cilantro in the garden through the winter, plant some from transplants to give the herb a jump on upcoming freezes. If you want to start from seed, start them in a pot to transplant in the garden in late winter as spring approaches. Herbs are pretty readily available everywhere now because fall is a traditional time to plant all herbs. Many grocery stores have beautiful herb plants throughout the fall. Pick up a few and plant them in a spot in your garden that gets plenty of sun and has well drained soil. Plant plants about 4 inches apart and at the same soil level as they are growing in the pot, being careful not to plant any deeper. Keep watered every few days when weather is dry for about 3 weeks and then start letting it get dry between waterings. A little drought circumstance is said to intensify the flavor of cilantro.
To plant from seed, fill pots with a quality, well-draining soil. Mix in compost or a quality dry plant food to planting medium. Scatter seeds across soil and cover with ¼ inch more. If you didn’t add dry plant food to the soil, add a small amount of liquid food to water. Water seeds and keep them moist until germination. A spray bottle works well for this. Place pots in a sunny spot and protect from freezes. Seedlings usually emerge in about a week, but sometimes take several weeks to germinate, so don’t despair if seedlings don’t come up right away. Water every few days once seedlings emerge and taper off watering when plants reach about 5 inches.


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