Coriander on the windowsill: how to grow from seeds in winter at home

Fresh greens are always in demand. Its deficiency is especially acute in winter. Summer residents found a way out by growing coriander on the windowsill. How to properly grow cilantro, which variety to choose for planting, beginner gardeners think. It is necessary to create the right conditions for home growing in order to get a quality crop.

What is this

Many summer residents know this green firsthand. But all people are divided into 2 categories, some love cilantro, others do not even tolerate its smell. Thinking she smells like bugs.

Coriander has been used for a long time, scientists have found mention of the use of cilantro in Egyptian writings. The plant is useful, distributed on many continents. In some countries, it is even considered a weed. It is used in cooking, medicine, cosmetology and other fields.

Coriander, or cilantro, is an annual plant with a strong odor. It has several names, but this does not diminish the benefits of its use for the human body. Cilantro grows from seeds that are left in the ground for the winter or planted in the spring.

As a seasoning, coriander seeds are crushed and added to food a few minutes before the end of cooking. There are other properties of the plant, which will be described below.

Harm and benefit

Coriander has a lot of useful properties, but there are also contraindications. You should familiarize yourself with them before deciding to grow cilantro at home.

Pros:

• Woman and coriander. Cilantro stimulates the synthesis of estrogens. Helps fight depression. Masks with its use improve the condition of the skin, including eliminating peeling.
• Impact on the gastrointestinal tract. Normalization of appetite, elimination of bacteria, improvement of the digestion process.
• Increasing male power. Cilantro increases potency, contains a natural hormone. Helps relieve symptoms of prostatitis.
• Strengthening bone tissue.
• Diuretic effect.
• Cleansing the body as a whole.
• Cilantro makes the heart work better.
• Helps bile flow.

And much more, the benefits of coriander are hard to overestimate. But besides the positive qualities, there are also negative properties of cilantro:

• Cilantro should not be consumed by pregnant women and during lactation.
• Don't use coriander for people with thrombophlebitis, cholecystitis.
• Use cilantro with extreme caution for people who have had a heart attack or stroke.
• Restrain people with diabetes and gastritis with high acidity.

Cilantro has long been famous for its healing properties. But you should use it carefully so as not to harm the body.

Growing from seeds

The easiest way to grow cilantro in an apartment in winter is from seeds. Only one requirement must be observed, sow the plant immediately in the pot in which it will grow. Coriander does not tolerate transplants, the plant takes root, but its growth and development slows down significantly.

Pot and soil

Capacity for growing cilantro at home should be deep and wide. The root system of coriander requires a lot of space because it has long roots. The width of the pot is 45 cm, the height is 30 cm. Cilantro feels great in such a container.

Coriander requires loose, organic-rich soil for proper growth and development. If necessary, purchase ready-made soil in the store. As an option, mix it 50 x 50 with the ground from the site.

If you make your own nutrient composition for planting cilantro, you should mix:

• 1 piece of sod land;
• 1 part humus;
• 0.5 parts of sand.

Do not forget about good drainage for coriander, broken expanded clay, brick or crushed stone will do, their absence is filled with pieces of foam.

For disinfection, a few days before planting cilantro, the pot is poured with boiling water with potassium permanganate or 1 tbsp. l. wood ash.

Seed preparation

Coriander is purchased only in specialized stores.They sell quality seeds that are guaranteed to sprout. They must be fresh, 1 year or 2 at the most, later cilantro will not sprout. It is undesirable to buy in grocery stores, as coriander is heat-treated. By following these requirements, you can grow excellent greens on the windowsill.

When planting, divide the cilantro in half. So she will sprout faster.

Varieties for cultivation

An important role is played by the choice of coriander variety. A properly selected species will yield a crop and provide greenery for the entire winter period. Cilantro on the windowsill grows subject to simple requirements, following which, they receive the declared yield:

1. Incentive. Cilantro bushes are compact, height 25-30 cm. The color of the leaves is dark green. Ripens in 2 months.
2. King of the market. Feature of a grade - undemanding to heat. There is a lot of greenery, it ripens in 35-45 days.
3. Amber. The bushes are semi-spreading. The color of cilantro leaves is dark green. Ripens within 45-50 days.
4. Vanguard. Large yield of greenery. Has a high immunity to diseases. The scent is strong and long lasting.
5. Petrusha the gardener. The foliage is tender and juicy, light in color. Bushes are normal. Ripens in a month.
6. Alekseevsky. Cilantro is resistant to temperature drops. The bushes are upright and compact. Ripens within 35 days.
7. Oriental fragrance. Plant height 60 cm, many leaves. The green color is light. A feature of the cilantro variety is a strong spicy aroma. Ready for use within 35-45 days.
8. Santo. The height of the coriander bushes is 60 cm, the size of the leaves is medium. Ripens in 50 days.

Whatever the characteristics of cilantro varieties, the best ones are determined by gardeners themselves. The yield of coriander directly depends on the care of the crop.

Sowing

To grow cilantro on a windowsill, you need to plant the seeds properly. To do this, you must meet a number of requirements.

How to plant cilantro in a pot:

1. The bottom of the container must be filled with drainage.
2. Further fill with nutrient soil, leaving 3 cm from the top.
3. Lay out 10 whole cilantro seeds or 20 separate ones (depending on the width and length of the container, the number of coriander seeds varies). One round seed produces 2 plants.
4. Fill with earth, layer thickness 1-1.5 cm.
5. Moisten the ground, it is recommended to use a spray bottle.
6. The pots are placed in a warm, dark place, covered with polyethylene or glass.
7. Cilantro keeps soil moist until sprouts appear.
8. Coriander seeds need 7-10 days to germinate.

If you soak cilantro seeds for 1-2 hours before planting, they will sprout faster. As soon as shoots appear, the pot is placed on a lighted windowsill, the polyethylene is removed.

Where to place the pot with seedlings

Coriander loves light, with a lack of daylight, additional lighting lamps are installed. West-facing windows are suitable, ideally use the south ones. The more light, the better the cilantro greens. The temperature in the room is not less than +15 ⁰С.

How to care

It is enough to fulfill simple agrotechnical requirements. Caring for cilantro is minimal, the plants are unpretentious and undemanding.

Temperature

Coriander is cold-resistant, but it is negative towards heat. Therefore, the optimal temperature for growing greenery in room conditions will be +14 … +20 ⁰С. At the same time, it is necessary to moisten the cilantro, spray the bush about 1 time per week.

Irrigation

Coriander greens require moist soil for proper growth and development. The first 1-1.5 months, moisturizing with a spray bottle is necessary. This is necessary in order not to blur the cilantro roots.

In the future, carefully water the soil near the coriander roots. Water should not fall on the leaves. They carefully monitor that the plant does not dry out, cilantro is hard to endure such stresses.

Lighting

Light is necessary for proper development, coriander does not stretch and only produces lush greenery if it has enough light. Cilantro needs it 6-10 hours a day, with its lack, window sills are equipped with special lamps.

Thinning

It is recommended to remove excess coriander plants. This is necessary so that the remaining cilantro sprouts feel freer and form more green mass instead of thin leaves.

When removing excess cilantro plants, you should be careful not to uproot unnecessary sprouts. They are carefully cut with a knife or scissors. Damage to the root system of the remaining plants will slow down the growth and development of the bush.

Timely thinning of cilantro will give the remaining coriander seedlings a chance to develop more green mass.

Removing peduncles

Windowsill harvest needed to supply fresh table cilantro herbs. But do not forget that any plant tends to reproduce. With the appearance of peduncles, the growth of the green mass of coriander slows down greatly. The plant devotes all its strength to growing seeds.

For those who do not need them, it is recommended to remove the flower stalks from cilantro. Carefully, so as not to uproot the plant, cut out the emerging flowers with scissors. Then the plant will continue to delight with green foliage.

Fertilizer

Summer residents do not recommend being zealous with top dressing. But 1 time per month does not interfere with feeding cilantro with complex fertilizers. So the leaves will be more magnificent, the greens will be juicier and more fragrant.

Pests and diseases

Among insects that harm cilantro:

• bugs;
• seed eater;
• winter scoop;
• umbrella moth;
• wireworm.

To combat them, it is recommended to treat coriander with insecticides.

Of the diseases, cilantro is prone to powdery mildew and ramularia. In diseased plants, the color of the leaves changes. It is required to observe the landing technique and prevent waterlogging. If infection of cilantro has occurred, diseased plants are removed, all greens are treated with fungicides.Processed coriander leaves should not be eaten until the expiration date of the drug. This data is indicated in the instructions.

Harvesting

Unlike picking cilantro greens in the beds, plants from the windowsill are never cut to the root. It is necessary to leave 1 cm of stem length. Then the cilantro leaves will start to grow back.

Cut coriander leaves, the length of which is not less than 15-20 cm. To continue the growth of greenery, small central leaves are left.

The peculiarity of cilantro is that it dies off very quickly. In order not to be left without coriander, you should plant new seeds every 2-3 weeks. Then you will provide yourself with green cilantro for a long period.

Coriander seeds are harvested when they are easily separated by hand. Most often, their color changes to light brown. Dry the cilantro well.

Storage

Keep fresh cilantro greens in the freezer, cut and freeze the leaves. Then added to the finished dish. If it is not possible to freeze coriander, you can dry it. Chop the cilantro and put it in a dry container with a tight lid.

Ripe seeds are dried and stored as a whole. So cilantro retains most of the substances for which it is valued. The coriander is crushed before use.

How to grow cilantro on a rolled window in winter

There is such a method of growing coriander greens on windowsills as planting in twists. The process is simple, cilantro grows excellent. You will need:

• polyethylene freezer bags;
• non-woven towel;
• big plastic cup;
• sponge for uniform watering;
• liquid solution of potassium permanganate;
• hydrogen peroxide;
• fertile soil;
• cilantro seeds.

The work surface is being prepared, polyethylene is folded in half, length is approximately 35-40 cm, a rolled towel is applied on top, its length is shorter than polyethylene. It is necessary to leave a free edge in order to wrap the twist with it at the end of the work. Then gently moisten with manganese water. The next step is laying out the soil. The layer thickness is 1 cm, distributed over the surface of the towel, leaving 1 cm from the edge above and below. Moisten abundantly with a solution of potassium permanganate. From above, stepping back about 1-1.5 cm from the beginning of the soil layer, spread out the coriander. Cilantro seeds are placed often, after 1 cm.

The final stage is folding. A neat tube is twisted, it is not strongly squeezed or compressed.Leave room for roots. When the soil runs out, wrap the rest of the polyethylene a little tighter. Tie the resulting twist so that it does not unwind. They attach paper on which they sign the name of the seeds and the date of planting.

Water is poured into the bottom of a plastic cup, about 0.5 cm, 12-15 drops of hydrogen peroxide are added there. A twist with cilantro is placed in it, closed with polyethylene, tightened with an elastic band. Carefully monitor the water level, it should not decrease. After the emergence of shoots of cilantro, remove the film, put the glass on a sunny windowsill.

Reviews about growing at home

Advice from experienced gardeners will help a novice vegetable grower grow coriander greens correctly, while avoiding common mistakes.

Hope: “Cilantro is easy to grow.It is enough to fulfill simple requirements, and the greens will be on the table all year round. No need to replant plants, the culture does not like this. It is better to initially plant cilantro in a large container, then break through. The spice is not to everyone's taste and for he alth reasons too. Therefore, I advise you to think and evaluate all the pros and cons.

Cilantro is a useful green vitamin that a person needs. It is not difficult to grow it on the site, but those summer residents who are very fond of coriander grow it at home on the windowsill. There is nothing difficult in this, just choose a place, good seeds and fulfill the requirements for caring for cilantro.

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