Lessons Learned: Cilantro

I had to finally pull most of my cilantro in the SFG. It bolted a while ago, but still had a nice fragrance and pretty flowers that attracted bees to the garden, so I left it for a while. However, it was shading out the other plants. I left a couple of plants hoping that they will self-sow or I can harvest as coriander.



I planted the cilantro transplants early June and it seems just as soon as they got established, they bolted. I knew that cilantro likes cooler weather but this cilantro bolted before the lettuce did.

I have since learned that root disturbance causes cilantro to bolt early. Cilantro should be seeded directly in the garden or container to avoid this. All was not lost as I was able to harvest a bunch of cilantro for Mexican dishes and freeze a little too for later.

I will plant more cilantro in its place. I haven’t had much success in growing cilantro from seed. I have since learned that the seed is actually a husk that contains two cilantro seeds. If you carefully crush the husk and soak the seeds it may increase the germination rate.



I am going to give it a try and hopefully be able to harvest some cilantro before the summer heat causes the plant to bolt.