Coriander is another name for spicy herbs, known as cilantro in cooking. This seasoning is an integral part of a number of culinary dishes and sauces, which without it cannot be called real masterpieces.
Thanks to its irreplaceable aroma, cilantro amazingly complements a wide variety of food; dishes acquire a special piquancy. Therefore, so many people are interested in growing cilantro from seeds.
This article describes the basics of agricultural technology as much as possible, using which you will grow spice on your garden bed or in a pot on the windowsill without much effort. Surprisingly, many do not know that this plant requires minimal care, but how much benefit it does.
Coriander Botanical Certificate
The celebrity came to this herb due to the spread of traditional Korean cuisine in our region. At home, in the Land of morning freshness, cilantro has been growing for more than five thousand years, still attributing spices to the miraculous property of longevity.
Coriander (cilantro) is an annual herbaceous plant, a typical member of the umbrella family. Seeds, like greens, of this culture contain essential oils in a high consistency with a rather pleasant aroma. In cooking, it is used fresh and dried.
Tasty and healthy properties possessed by cilantro make it so popular that almost every gardener got the hang of growing a plant on his plot, in a greenhouse, a house.
Important! Hint for those who are new to this culture. In the form of herbs, a spice called cilantro is grown until the seeds ripen. The plant left to receive seeds is called coriander. They need almost identical care.
The culture differs in the heterogeneous structure of the leaves: below they grow petioles, above - based directly on the stem.
Check out the information below on how to grow cilantro yourself.
How to grow spicy seasoning yourself
As already mentioned, growing cilantro is not difficult, and thanks to the pickiness inherent in the plant, coriander is cultivated in different ways. Read each of the methods in more detail to have an idea of how to behave with a plant at different stages of its life cycle.
The system of care and cultivation is not difficult, but knowledge of some rules will give impetus to a more balanced behavior with cilantro: cultivation and care.
Growing spices in the country
Before planting any plant, choose the most suitable place for it. Cilantro feels best on a bed protected from drafts, in partial shade, or in the sun. It is not recommended to grow grass on a site with a constant lack of light - shaded by trees, bushes, tall plants.
It is best to cultivate a flat or slightly elevated area, since when growing on the valley part of the area, cilantro is soaked even before ripening, which is characterized as an adverse effect.
In the supposed place of growing herbs, the soil should be loose and generously fertilized. It is better to make top dressing during the period of digging the site. On 1 m 2 you will need: ½ buckets of humus, some fresh wood ash.
Those who prefer mineral fertilizers, it is better to take care of the early application of fertilizers. The earth is sprinkled with granules before sowing seeds at the rate of 20-30 grams of fertilizer per 1 m 2 .
In the case of growing cilantro (coriander) in an open area, it is possible to cultivate spices during the warm period. The planting process does not require special agricultural knowledge and is not difficult.
Often, the propagation of cilantro occurs through self-seeding. Cilantro cultivation in open ground is carried out according to any scheme, regardless of the time of planting. In advance prepared on the site of the bed moisten and make planting material (randomly or in rows). Top planting sprinkled with a small layer of earth.
After the appearance of the first shoots, the grass is thinned out. For further cultivation, only strong sprouts with a distance between them of up to 7 cm are left.
Cilantro in the house, or How to grow spice on the windowsill
The cycle of home growing spicy culinary herbs in a pot begins with sowing seeds in large boxes. The optimal period for the procedure is the first half of March.
Seeds are planted in boxes, placing them at a distance of up to 7 cm from each other. The work is meticulous and requires patience. In no more than two seedlings are planted in separate pots. The planting process is simplified by the fact that the seeds are large in size, and 2 cm from the top of the soil is enough for seeding.
Containers with seedlings of future coriander greens are covered with a film or wrapped in a plastic bag in order to simulate a mini-greenhouse. Polyethylene is removed only when cotyledonary leaves appear.
Growing cilantro on the windowsill provides mandatory lighting. As an additional artificial source, a fluorescent lamp is used.
Providing optimal conditions for growing, the first edible greens appear after 17-21 days from the day of sowing.
Like any other, the plant requires attention. The process of leaving is not as troublesome as cilantro is required to be systematically observed. If you miss a small trifle during the growing process, you risk losing your crop, so be careful when cultivating this spice, popular among gardeners and culinary specialists, at your own site, in a greenhouse, in a pot.
Features of planting and care of cilantro in greenhouse conditions
Equally popular is growing cilantro in greenhouses. Sowing seeds is carried out in February-March. Shoots appear after 14-21 days, and flower stalks - after 40 days. With late planting in May-June, flower stalks are released up to two times sooner - after about 20 days.
Cilantro cultivation in greenhouses is carried out according to a special scheme: between bushes maintain a distance of 8 to 12 centimeters, and between rows - 30-33 centimeters. This simplifies the system of measures related to care, and the bushes have enough space during the development period.
Measures dedicated to the care of cilantro
Stability and attention to spice shoots determine the proper cultivation of cilantro. To promote accelerated plant growth, it is watered on time and regularly - 2 times a week is enough for the normal development of spices. The calculation rate for 1 m 2 is 4-5 liters of water.
Watering is especially important for cilantro, which is grown on an open garden bed. The intensity of irrigation is increased during the growing season in order to rapidly gain green mass with spice.
The need to change the irrigation system
With the beginning of ripening of cilantro fruits, watering is reduced to 2-3 liters of water per 1 m 2 .
Important! If it is not possible to provide a system of regular irrigation of cilantro cultivated in the garden, use mulching.
The soil tightly mulched around cilantro provides a moisture retention in the ground, which is important for this moisture-loving spice. This will allow as a result of growing cilantro - fragrant and spicy greens - to get a high yield. Monitor the quality of the seeds and sow coriander in sunny beds.
Growing spices in a pot on a windowsill does not require specific care. Everything is simpler here, and the care is regular moderate watering, backlighting, as mentioned above.
Cilantro Harvest
Harvest spices in the form of culinary herbs are harvested during the period of slowing plant growth. Therefore, it is worth monitoring the level of development and the beginning of flowering. Collect quality cilantro on time is difficult. Experienced gardeners are advised to trim the foliage when it reaches a height of 20-22 centimeters. To do this, use a sharp knife, and collect the spice in the early morning.
Cilantro storage features
The cut greens are washed with running water, dried well from moisture, forming small bundles and hanging them in a dry, dark room, for example, in the attic.
Do not forget that drying in direct sunlight deprives the grass of all useful vitamins.
Coriander is usually stored in dried form. The correct drying process ensures the preservation of not only healthy minerals and vitamins, but also the palatability of the herb. Finely chop the spice only after the plant has completely dried. Seasoning is placed in special glass jars and tightly closed.
Growing and caring for cilantro is not difficult. And if you are not too fond of exotic seasonings, then this is for you. Be sure to try to grow seasoning with your own hands.
The subtleties of agro-cultivation of coriander
One of the central places in the agro-cultivation of spices is precisely the cultivation of cilantro at home and in the country. Nevertheless, focus your attention on some details:
- seed collection is carried out when more than half of the umbrellas turn brown;
- the collected material is carefully filtered from foreign seeds, fragments of twigs;
- cilantro is dried;
- stored in sealed containers.
Now you know about the features of coriander, care and growing from seeds. Cilantro on the windowsill, in the greenhouse, in the garden is a year-round source of vitamins and an excellent addition to culinary masterpieces. Knowing the intricacies of the growing process, you can enjoy not only the cultivation process, but also the result obtained in the form of a spice crop.
Just a few weeks - and you will forget about spending money on making your dishes tastier and healthier. With cilantro, even the most ordinary food can get a new taste and turn into a real masterpiece. And do not forget that a lot is said about the benefits and taste of seasoning. Therefore, it is so popular and, in some cases, even grown as an ornamental plant to decorate a window, like rosemary, lavender and some other spicy aromatic herbs.