Growing Cilantro at Home

When I was a child, I remember being awed by the entire process of gardening, thanks to my grandfather, who planted and grew so many beautiful plants in our garden. I decided then that I also wanted to garden and to appease me , my mother handed over some coriander seeds. This became quite a regular event. My cousins and me used to plant these seeds, in black soil and watch curiously as the cilantro herb grew from these seeds, in just a few weeks. Which is why I can say with authority that growing cilantro at home, is actually child's play!

Cilantro is a herb, and is known by many names like Chinese Parsley and coriander. It is a favorite among the many herbs for cooking. Its fresh leaves, seeds and seed powder are used for multiple cooking purposes in many cuisines. Its root, which has an even more stronger flavor, is used in Thai food. Cilantro has many health benefits, like it helps in digestion, it is anti-inflammatory, prevents nausea and is a good source of dietary fiber, iron, magnesium, etc. So, read these growing cilantro tips, and start your very own herb garden.

How to Grow Cilantro?

Cilantro grows easily in warm and dry weather. Here, are a few cilantro growing tips.

• When growing cilantro from seeds, select good healthy seeds and discard the seeds which are infested by bugs. Soak these seeds in clean water for a day and wash them thoroughly but take care while washing them as cilantro seeds are delicate and can break easily. After washing the seeds, air dry them.
• You can plant the seeds in your garden, but if you have facilities only for indoor gardening, use a pot for growing cilantro indoors. Plant them in shade, where they don't get direct bright sunlight, because the heat might burn the plants. Little exposure to the sun in mornings and evenings, is sufficient for cilantro plants. When growing cilantro in a pot, make sure the pot is at least 12'' deep, so that it accommodates the tap roots of cilantro plants easily. Use a good potting soil mixed with compost as fertilizer.
• Plant the seeds ½'' deep in the soil, and keep 1'' space between the seeds. When the cilantro plants grow, they will need space, so keep at least 12'' - 15'' space between the rows of seeds.
• When growing cilantro at home, make sure you keep watering the soil moderately, twice a week, and keep the soil damp.
• When the cilantro plant grows to around 6'' in height, it's time to harvest it. Carefully trim the flower heads and the leaves growing on the sides of the plant, and you will have fresh cilantro leaves for your kitchen. If you want cilantro seeds, then do not cut the flower heads. Wait till the flower dies and then harvest the flowers heads for seeds.
• Collect these flower heads and tie them together, and dry them in the sun. Place a container beneath these flower heads, so, that the seeds fall into the jar. Make sure the seeds are well dried. You can use these seeds for not only cooking purposes, but also regrowing cilantro at home.

Additional Care for Growing Cilantro at Home

• Take care of the cilantro plant, and if you observe that the plant's leaves are infested with pests, immediately remove the leaves.
• Sometimes the leaves get damaged and turn black. Check for these leaves from time to time and remove them from the plant.
• Cilantro reseeds itself, however it is short lived so keep planting the seeds after every 1 and ½ months, to make sure that you never run out of supply.
• You can store the cilantro leaves in the refrigerator for 3 days. Just trim out the fresh leaves of cilantro, and store the unwashed leaves in an air tight container in the refrigerator, and wash them before using.

Growing cilantro at home is fairly easy, and as time passes by, you will get better at understanding the harvest period, the watering time and the flowering time of cilantro. Soon, you will have homegrown cilantro leaves and seeds for your culinary purposes.