How to sow and grow cilantro
Cilantro has a particular taste. Most people love it in curries and Thai or Indian soups.
In our Makkelijke Moestuin, we grow cilantro for the leaves. But if you let the plants bloom, you can eventually harvest the seeds too.
In our Makkelijke Moestuin, we grow cilantro for the leaves. But if you let the plants bloom, you can eventually harvest the seeds too.
What is cilantro?
Cilantro - or coriander - is an annual herb. The leaves look a little like flat parsley, but a bit rounder.
Cilantro comes from the Middle East near the Mediterranean and is widely used in Eastern and Moroccan cuisine: in stews, soups, or curries with coconut milk.
Everything is edible: the leaves, the white flowers, and the seeds. The seeds taste completely different from the leaves and are used for oriental spice mixes or pickling.
Fresh cilantro is super popular. It has a particular flavor that most people find simply delicious. But about 15% of people say it tastes like soap and can't stand it. It has something to do with your sense of smell.
Cilantro comes from the Middle East near the Mediterranean and is widely used in Eastern and Moroccan cuisine: in stews, soups, or curries with coconut milk.
Everything is edible: the leaves, the white flowers, and the seeds. The seeds taste completely different from the leaves and are used for oriental spice mixes or pickling.
Fresh cilantro is super popular. It has a particular flavor that most people find simply delicious. But about 15% of people say it tastes like soap and can't stand it. It has something to do with your sense of smell.
What's so great about our cilantro?
This cilantro doesn’t flower as quickly as other species. The leaves look kind of like flat parsley, but rounder.
Cilantro is an annual plant. If you sow it every few weeks, you can harvest for a long time.
Like most fresh herbs, Cilantro is super healthy and contains lots of vitamins: vitamin A, various B vitamins (including folic acid), vitamin C, and vitamin E. It’s also rich in iron and magnesium.
Cilantro
Cilantro leaves have a distinctive flavour that you either love or do not. They are widely used in curries and Asian soups.
The app guides you in growing cilantro for its leaves, but if you let the plants flower, you can eventually harvest the seeds too.
This variety is slower to flower than most other cilantro varieties.
The app guides you in growing cilantro for its leaves, but if you let the plants flower, you can eventually harvest the seeds too.
This variety is slower to flower than most other cilantro varieties.
- Variety: Coriander
- Family: leafy greens
- Plants per square: 9
- Height: 20 cm (60 cm when flowering)
- Sowing time: April to August
- Sowing depth: 1 cm
- Time to harvest: from 5 to 6 weeks
- Germination: 7 to 21 days at 15 to 20°C
- Sunlight: sun or partial shade
- Packet contents: about 100 seeds, enough for 5 to 6 squares
How do you sow and grow cilantro?
This cilantro is included in the free Makkelijke Moestuin app. Use it and you will get guidance from seed to harvest. Every vegetable goes through several stages, which we call levels.
The app tells you exactly what to do at each level and regularly asks you to check whether your plants are ready for the next one.
So you do not need to know how to grow cilantro successfully before you start. But if you would like to read ahead, here is what the whole process looks like.
What do you need to grow your own cilantro?
Besides the seeds, you need:
- a 30 by 30 cm square
- Makkelijke Moestuin Mix or MM coconut mix
- a spot with at least 6 hours of sunlight a day
Level 1: Sowing cilantro
Level 1: Sow cilantro
Loosen and moisten the mix in a square in the first or second row of your raised bed, then sow as follows:
- make 9 holes in the square, no deeper than 1 cm
- put 2 to 3 seeds in each hole
- carefully close the holes
Depending on the weather and the time of year, you will see the first green-brown shoots after 5 to 10 days.
Level 2: Cilantro seedlings
Level 2: Cilantro seedlings
As soon as you see the first seedlings, you know things are going well. They probably won't all come up at once, but give it another few days.
Then it's time for the next level.
Then it's time for the next level.
Level 3: Thinning cilantro
Level 3: Thin out cilantro seedlings
When several seedlings come up in each hole that you sowed, choose the best ones and remove the rest: that's called thinning out.
It might sound harsh, but it's necessary. The cilantro needs enough room to grow. Your plants will thank you later.
If you see spots where nothing came up, sow a few more seeds.
Note: cilantro can't be transplanted, otherwise it will quickly start to flower.
It might sound harsh, but it's necessary. The cilantro needs enough room to grow. Your plants will thank you later.
If you see spots where nothing came up, sow a few more seeds.
Note: cilantro can't be transplanted, otherwise it will quickly start to flower.
Level 4: Caring for your cilantro plants
Level 4: Care for your cilantro plants
After 3 weeks or so, your seedlings will become small plants.
At this stage, they don't need much attention. If the weather's dry, give them some water and remove the odd dead or yellow leaf. Easy 🙂
Cilantro plants grow better in cool weather than during hot summers. So, give them some shade in the summer months and keep the soil mix moist. This will also prevent them from flowering too early.
Other than that, growing cilantro is problem-free: even snails leave the plants alone.
At this stage, they don't need much attention. If the weather's dry, give them some water and remove the odd dead or yellow leaf. Easy 🙂
Cilantro plants grow better in cool weather than during hot summers. So, give them some shade in the summer months and keep the soil mix moist. This will also prevent them from flowering too early.
Other than that, growing cilantro is problem-free: even snails leave the plants alone.
Level 5: Picking and harvesting
Level 5: Pick and harvest
After about 5 - 6 weeks, the first cilantro leaves are ready to harvest.
Cut or pick the leaves. As long as you leave a centimeter of each stem, new leaves will grow from them.
That's how you keep harvesting for a long time. If the plants do bloom, try the flowers: they're edible too.
Cut or pick the leaves. As long as you leave a centimeter of each stem, new leaves will grow from them.
That's how you keep harvesting for a long time. If the plants do bloom, try the flowers: they're edible too.
What do you use cilantro for?
Fresh cilantro leaves have a strong smell and a mildly sweet flavor, kind of like aniseed. Try a leaf before you cook with it.
You can use cilantro in salads and sauces, stews, chicken dishes. It's great for Indian, Moroccan, and Thai cuisine.
You can even make dips with it.
The last levels: harvesting until the plants start to flower
The next levels
If you keep cutting leaves while leaving the growing centre of the plants intact, they will produce a second crop of leaves.
Remove the plants when they start to flower, then sow again in another square.
So: what's keeping you from growing cilantro yourself?
It's easy to grow, doesn't need a lot of attention, and if you love it, you can use it in a lot of different dishes.
Plus: with our app and materials, it's pretty much impossible to fail 😉
Order your cilantro seeds here or get started with a complete starter kit:
Plus: with our app and materials, it's pretty much impossible to fail 😉
Order your cilantro seeds here or get started with a complete starter kit:
Enjoy!
PS: Thanks to Lieve Lente, Firsttimegardener en Fimmes for their photos and posts on our Dutch community.