Growing coriander from seeds is a simple matter for taste and benefits

Fresh greens on the table are taste, pleasure and benefit. Growing coriander from seeds does not take much time and effort. This spicy herb will diversify your daily diet, adding piquant notes and a unique aroma to your dishes. The crop is available for cultivation in open ground, in a greenhouse and at home - in a pot. She needs a minimum of attention and care. The green seasoning is used directly from the garden - fresh and stored for future use - dried, crushed and stored. The seeds are used for further propagation and for food - as a spice.

Sowing time

Cilantro can be sown in the ground after the snow melts, as soon as the ground warms up to 6-8 degrees. Repeated sowings are carried out at intervals of 2-3 weeks, until mid-summer. The spice is sown in different climatic zones:

• in the middle zone, Moscow region - in April, mid-May, the first ten days of June, early July;
• in the Leningrad region and the Urals - in early May, early June, early July;
• in Siberia it is recommended to grow cilantro in greenhouses; it is sown in open ground in June;
• in the south, the first sowing is carried out in March, the last in mid-July.

Pre-winter sowing is practiced in regions with mild and snowy winters. Cilantro is sown in pre-prepared beds when frost sets the soil (November).

For home growing and preparing seedlings, cilantro is sown starting in February. Young plants are planted in the ground at the age of 2 weeks.

Landing dates according to the lunar calendar for 2022

• January: 10-12, 25-27, 29-31
• February: 3, 4-9, 12-14, 21-23, 25-27
• March: 3-17, 20-31
• April: 3-10, 21, 22, 25-30
• May: 2-7, 14, 15, 17-27
• June: 1-3, 6-10, 19-21
• July: 8-11, 16-18, 20-27, 30, 31
• August: 4-6
• September: -
• October: -
• November: 12-14, 19-23, 26-30
• December: 1-6, 19-21

In 2022, unfavorable days fall on the following dates:

• January – 2, 3, 17, 18
• February – 1, 2, 16, 28
• March – 1, 2, 18, 27, 28
• April – 1, 2, 16, 23
• May – 1, 16, 30
• June -14, 18, 29
• July – 13, 14, 28, 29
• August – 11, 12, 27-28
• September: 9-10, 26, 27
• October: 9, 10, 25, 26
• November: 1, 2, 7-9, 24, 25, 28, 29
• December: 7-9, 23-25

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  @Nikolai Vladimirov, Flickr

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  @ Forest and Kim Starr, Flickr

The best predecessors

Optimal growing conditions for cilantro include crop rotation. Coriander is recommended to be planted after:

• any legumes (peas, beans, beans);
• cereals (regular and green manure);
• all types of onions, garlic;
• corn;
• beets;
• cauliflower and early white cabbage.

Somewhat less successful, but also suitable predecessors for growing cilantro in open ground in the country:

• almost any herbs, green salad;
• melons (pumpkins, melons, watermelons);
• plants from the Solanaceae family (tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants);
• radish, radish, daikon.

To grow cilantro in open ground for greens and seeds, do not use areas where they were planted last season:

• umbrella herbs (dill, fennel, parsley, celery, watercress);
• carrot;
• mid- and late-ripening cabbage.

Important! If crop rotation rules are violated, the risk of coriander becoming infected with pathogenic microflora and pest attacks increases.

Soil preparation

For spices, a flat area open to the sun is allocated, with fertile and loose soil, neutral acidity. The bed is dug up, adding (per 1 sq. m):

• up to a bucket of sand on dense loams;
• up to a bucket of humus (manure, compost);
• up to 400 g of wood ash, dolomite flour for acidic soils;
• 2 tbsp. l. complex granular mineral fertilizer.

Beans, cucumbers, and zucchini are considered good predecessors of the crop. Cilantro is often grown as a repeat crop after harvesting early greens (lettuces, radishes).

Features of growing greens in a greenhouse

In the middle and northern latitudes, where frosts continue until May, and in October the grasses no longer develop, greens are cut all year round in heated greenhouses; they are grown in unheated ones in the south.

To plant dill, parsley, lettuce, and onions, use the area that is allocated for vegetables or arrange a place for boxes that are filled with soil. The temperature in the greenhouse is maintained at 10–15°C, and photo lamps are installed for lighting. Onions are cut into feathers when the leaves reach a height of 20 cm.

To constantly obtain fresh herbs, dill is planted every 2 weeks with sprouted grains, choosing early-ripening varieties bred specifically for planting in a greenhouse:

• Further;
• Gribovsky;
• Aurora.

For planting, use a single-line pattern with row spacing of 15 cm or a tape method with the number of lines from 3 to 5 and the distance between the grooves equal to 12 and 15 centimeters.

To grow parsley, the grains of which are planted with sprouts, for which they are kept in wet gauze for 5 days, the prepared substrate is divided into furrows 20 mm deep. The seed is laid out every 4 or 5 cm and sprinkled with earth. Parsley is grown in a greenhouse at a temperature not lower than 12 and not higher than 18°. The above-ground part of the spice is cut off when it reaches a height of 12 cm.

Care

Cilantro is valuable because it can be grown in the off-season by sowing seeds in ordinary seedling boxes. The plant is suitable for a place on a southern or eastern windowsill. The soil is loose and fertile.

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  @Forest and Kim Starr, Flickr

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  @viveirocariri, Instagram

Harvesting cilantro

The ripening period of coriander depends on the varietal characteristics. When an early ripening variety is planted, the harvest can be harvested after 30 days (seeds). When the variety is mid-ripe, coriander seeds can be collected 35-40 days after germination. For late-ripening varieties of cilantro, the growing season is 45-50 days. When a spicy-fragrant crop is grown for greens, the top leaves and shoots are cut off before the flowering phase begins. The lower part of the bush is not touched, otherwise the plant will not continue to gain green mass.

Diseases and pests

The crop may suffer from rust and powdery mildew. Diseases develop from excess moisture in the soil, high soil acidity, and excess nitrogen in the soil.

It makes no sense to treat cilantro, since antifungal drugs are toxic and the green crop cannot be eaten. As a preventive measure it is recommended:

• observe crop rotation;
• observe the watering and fertilizing regime;
• fight weeds.

Tender greenery can be parasitized by slugs and cutworms. Parasites are collected by hand or the grass is dusted with ash, mustard powder, or chalk.

Possible problems

Cilantro greens can grow slowly from lack of light. This is especially often observed in plants located in a greenhouse or on a windowsill. It is recommended to install backlighting, extending the day to 10-12 hours.

How to preserve cilantro and coriander for the winter at home

It is better to eat cilantro fresh. But if you have grown a lot of it and want to stock it for future use, you can dry it or freeze it.

To dry greens for the winter, dry sprigs of greens are finely chopped, then laid out in a thin layer on a tray and dried in a ventilated place, keeping them out of direct sunlight. The dried raw materials are placed in a dry plastic bag or a tightly closed glass jar. Store in a dry and dark place.

To freeze, wash the cilantro branches and dry them with a towel. Then finely chop or leave the branches entirely. Place them dry in a container or plastic bag and immediately put them in the freezer for storage.

Ripe coriander seeds have a brownish-brown color and a characteristic odor. Only such seeds are collected for further storage. The collected seeds are dried and then stored in a hermetically sealed glass container or paper bag in a dark place in a closet.

Growing greens using the hydroponic method

To plant dill, cilantro, basil, and lettuce at home, they begin to use a nutrient solution more often instead of soil. To grow spices hydroponically, special installations are purchased, which include soil, lamps for lighting, mineral complexes for feeding, and a compressor that saturates the liquid with oxygen.

When using the flow method, together with the solution that flows through the pipes, the plants receive useful substances. To improve germination, spice seeds are soaked in water and planted in pots of 4–6 pieces.

When sprouts appear, the containers are sent into the pipes of the hydroponic installation, and the plants are provided with lighting for 15 hours a day. For feeding, special liquid fertilizers are used. Early ripening varieties of lettuce and parsley are cut 28–40 days after sowing in pots, when the ground part grows to a height of 20–25 cm.

What depends on the correct landing time?

Coriander is an undemanding, cold-resistant crop that can be grown in almost any climate. However, a lot depends on the timing of planting cilantro:

• If you plant too early, when the ground has not yet warmed up, the sprouts will appear too late. Because of this, the entire growing season will be extended, and the crop may simply not have time to bear fruit.
• If planted too early, cilantro seedlings may be subject to return frosts. In this case, the yield will decrease significantly and the development of the plant will slow down. If the frosts are too severe, the seedlings may die.
• If planted too late, at best you will get greens. The seeds that are needed for sowing and as a seasoning will not ripen in this case.

However, this plant is very tolerant of violations of planting dates. In the southern regions of Russia, it is possible to collect up to three harvests of cilantro per season - however, in this case only the greens ripen, the seeds ripen no earlier than September.

Preparatory stage

Even before planting coriander, you need to decide on the choice of site, prepare the beds and seeds. The development of plants and their productivity depend on whether this is done on time and how correctly.

The best predecessors

Cilantro will not grow well in all areas; it is important to pay attention to what crops grew in this place previously. All legumes and cereals, root vegetables, cauliflower and early cabbage, onions, and green manure are considered good predecessors.

Nightshade, pumpkin, cruciferous, spicy and green crops are acceptable.

You cannot plant after umbelliferous plants: dill, parsley, fennel, watercress, carrots, celery, as well as turnips, medium and late cabbage. Onions, cucumbers, cabbages of all varieties, lettuce, and root vegetables are planted next to the cilantro beds.

Site selection and soil preparation

You should choose a well-lit place in the garden for this plant, since the ripening time, yield rate and concentration of essential oil in the seeds depend on this parameter.

The beds should be located on a flat area or on a slight hill, but not in a lowland. The soil is preferably medium in mechanical composition - loamy or sandy loam, light, neutral or slightly alkaline (acidic soil will have to be limed).

It is best to prepare the soil in the fall. First, it is cleared of various plant debris, then dug up onto the bayonet of a shovel and at the same time fertilizer is applied (0.5 buckets per square meter and approximately 0.3 kg of ash).

Sand is added to clay soil, and clay soil is added to sandy soil. The lumps are not broken; they must freeze in winter, which will allow them to destroy the pests. In the spring, add an additional 1 tbsp. l. urea and 30 g each of superphosphate and potassium sulfate.

Seed preparation

The freshness of the cilantro seed affects its germination; this is a feature of all plants of the Apiaceae family: the fresher the seeds, the better they germinate. Therefore, you need to take coriander seeds for sowing only those that are no more than 2 years old; every year their germination rate decreases.

You should buy seeds only in vegetable growers' stores. Seeds sold in grocery stores are not suitable for sowing.

Another feature of cilantro seeds is that they take a long time to germinate, so to speed up germination they need to be soaked in water for 0.5 days. When planting in early spring in wet soil, soaking is optional. To make cilantro germinate faster, it is recommended to use growth stimulants or a 1 to 1 solution of aloe juice to soak the seeds.

Which variety to choose

The choice of variety depends on what exactly the vegetable grower needs: greens or seeds. Among the varieties of coriander that produce a lot of seeds, we can distinguish Borodinsky (the seeds of this particular variety are used in the production of bread of the same name), Yantar, Taiga, Venus, and Avangard.

These same varieties can also be used to grow plants for greens. Among the varieties of cilantro that produce lush foliage, one can also note Debut, Stimul, Early, King of the Market, Alekseevsky, Kirovogradsky, Oktyabrsky, etc.