How to grow cilantro on the windowsill, tips on planting and caring for a plant at home

Many believe that the technology of growing coriander is so complex that it is impossible to grow this plant on your windowsill. Today we will talk about how to grow this useful plant in your home.

This plant is an excellent “green doctor”, and growing it will bring not only a pleasant “bonus” in cooking, but also health benefits. We will talk about how to grow cilantro on the windowsill at home.

Coriander: Description

This plant has many names: coriander, cilantro, hamem, kolandra, chilantro, sancho, dhaniya.

This green has come to us from the Mediterranean. Coriander or cilantro - annual plant, a member of the family of Umbrella, a thin stalk of which reaches a height of 40 cm. The coriander blooms with white or pale pink flowers, gathered in inflorescence "umbrella".

The leaves of the plant are divided into 2 levels: the lower leaves are located at the very root and are decorated with small cloves at the edges, and the upper leaves are divided into lobules with several segments. Because of the similar type of leaves, cilantro is often called parsley. The plant has a peculiar smell due to the fact that 80% of coriander consists of essential oils.

How to grow coriander at home, the requirements for successful growth

Many believe that cilantro can not be grown at home on a windowsill, but it is not. Before you start planting cilantro, you need to prepare everything you need: pot, soil, and think about where to place the plant. In more detail how to put cilantro in house conditions, we will talk further.

What should be the capacity for landing

In order to cilantro feel comfortable, before you start to grow it, you need to take care of the capacity for the plant.

It is better to choose the capacity of a rectangular, oblong shape with a depth of 40-45 cm and a width of 25-30 cm.Such a rather large pot for coriander seed will be needed because the plant does not tolerate transplants, and its root system is quite large.

Before planting cilantro in the tank, you must also make sure that there are drainage holes on the pot, because coriander does not tolerate stagnant water in the roots.

Substrate Requirements

When you decide to plant cilantro, you need to choose a nutrient substrate for the plant, coriander loves loamy or sandy loam soil. The structure of the soil should be loose. You can buy ready-made soil in the store, or you can use your soil, after mixing it with humus or compost. The earth must be neutral or weakly alkaline. Per kilogram of soil mixture, you must add 2-3 tablespoons of wood ash.

Where to arrange a pot with seedlings

In order for cilantro on the windowsill to delight you all year round, the pot with seedlings must be placed in a room where the air temperature does not fall below 15 ° C.Cilantro should receive light for 12-14 hours a day, and you may need additional lighting in the form of fluorescent lamps or special fitolamps, so it is better to put the pot in a well-lit place. The south or southwest side of the house is best suited.

Coriander: sowing rules

Sowing coriander in the pot can begin as early as mid-March. Seeds for sowing can be bought, and you can collect from their plants. It is important that the age of the seeds be no more than two years, otherwise the cilantro may simply not rise.

Before sowing seeds, it is better to soak them in water for 1-2 hours, so shoots will appear faster. The seeding depth of coriander should be 1–1.5 cm. Given the fact that cilantro seeds are rather large in size, from 3 to 10 seeds can be sown in one medium-sized container.

The seeds sown in a pre-prepared pot are sprinkled with earth "abreast", tamped and slightly moisturized. Then pour coriander very plentifully. Capacity with crops needs to be put in a place with dim lighting before emergence of the first shoots.

The first shoots appear after 1.5-2 weeks, and cilantro can be eaten only after a month.

With the advent of the first shoots, the capacity needs to be moved closer to the bright light.

How to care for coriander

To care for cilantro in a pot is very simple. It is enough only to water, feed, trim and weed the plant. Watering after the appearance of the first sprouts is reduced, but when the plant approaches the flowering period, the flower is plentifully watered again. After 15 minutes after watering, excess water must be drained so that the plant does not become sick with powdery mildew.

Several times a week to increase the level of humidity, it is necessary to spray a flower from a spray bottle. In order for the root system to receive oxygen, the soil must be loosened once a week. The lighting should be bright, and if necessary, the plant must be "highlighted".

An important component of care for cilantro is fertilizing the soil. It is necessary to fertilize the substrate once every 2 weeks. It is better to use complex mineral fertilizers and apply them in accordance with the instructions.

Kinze requires weeding and thinning of the bushes, which must be carried out regularly.Weeding is obligatory not only in order to clear the plant of weeds, but also so that the plant hurts less. Thinning is necessary for building up green mass, not flower stalks.

How to harvest and store the crop from the window sill

Harvest cilantro can only be a month after sowing, that is, after the bush appears 5-6 leaves. It is better to tear the cilantro immediately before adding it to food - so the plant will retain its beneficial properties. Coriander can be stored in dried form or in the form of seeds.

In order to make blanks from dried cilantro, greens "under the root" are cut from the bush and dried at room temperature, or, if you harvest the plant in summer, you can dry it on the balcony, but always in the shade. After the stems have dried, they are packaged in containers or bags and used in cooking.

Coriander seeds are harvested in a similar way, collecting them after flowering plants. Seeds are dried and poured into a container. It is recommended to keep such blanks for no more than 2 years.

In order to prolong the growth of green mass of cilantro, you can pinch the upper ovary, and then the harvest period will last longer. As soon as the period of flowering begins, the coriander stalks become thicker and it has an unpleasant pungent smell - from this moment it should not be consumed fresh.

A little trick, how to get fresh coriander (cilantro) a whole year

In order for fresh coriander greens to decorate your dishes all year round, you can simply sow cilantro in different periods. The growth process will take a month, and so, with each passing month, you will receive fresh cilantro on your table.

What is interesting: the soil from the previous plant can be reused by adding a little compost and disinfecting it. Each newly planted bush will develop in its own way, and this is normal, most importantly, the result is fresh cilantro throughout the year.

Use of cilantro in any form will not only enrich the taste of dishes, but also help your health, because our ancestors knew about the known beneficial properties of coriander. The process of planting and growing is quite simple and clear, which makes cilantro even more popular among gourmets and pot lovers.