Question regarding lighting for indoor cilantro

Hi--

I've recently started to undertake the frustrating task of growing cilantro (coriander) to a harvestable point. I started some seeds outdoors in containers but the constant temperature fluctuation seemed to make them bolt after developing just a few leaves. With that failure, I decided to try it indoors under a 26W Daylight CFL (6,500k color temperature). I have kept it under 24-hour light the entire time (from germination until now; about 3 weeks), and it seems to be thriving (all new leaf growth is still fat and dark green, and the stem is still limp and green, not woody. I was curious if keeping it under 24 hour light would extend its vegetative state, or if I should begin turning the light off for a few hours. Thanks for any and all help/suggestions!

--Jordan

I have read in many places that a daylight bulb offers almost nothing to your plant...you may want to look into diffrent bulbs. I buy a grow light bulb from lows or home depot for about 4 bucks for 65 watts. The come in blue and red specturm (diffrent light spectrums achieve diffrent results) I switched a few of my lamps to these bulbs and it seems to help my indoor plants get enough light. Try blue for young plants and red for fruting and blooming but double check yourself on all the diffrent spectrums and how they help your plants

Hi Garden Chick--

The lumens from a CFL bulb dissipate very quickly over a short distance, but I am keeping the bulb (which is in a clamp reflector fixture) about 2" from the tops of the plants (has not burned them at all), and I haven't had any problems with them getting "leggy" or stringy-looking. Cilantro, from what I understand, has pretty low light requirements.

Well, I seem to have answered my own question (at least for the first few weeks of the cilantro growing cycle). The short answer: yes, you can grow cilantro under a 26w CFL with 24-hour light, and the plant seems to thrive under these conditions. So far, with my first venture into growing cilantro, I've found that the plant seems to do best with minimal maintenance besides being watered regularly. The photos included were taken today, about three weeks after planting the seed.

I have made 2 attempts at growing cilantro from seed this season and I can't get any to sprot.......All my other goodies have sprouted but none of my cilantro. I even managed to grow Utah Celery ( I have heard can be hard) but no cilantro and its my most favorite herb I planted my first crop indoors around april 1st and the second outside about may 1st not even one seedling poking through.......my poor cilantro :(

Don't give up! This seedling is the 3rd planting of cilantro I've done so far this year, and only the first that didn't pop up and almost immediately bolt. The first time, I tried using the peat pellets in a Jiffy greenhouse tray. The seeds germinated just fine, but the taproots are so sensitive that when I transplanted them into actual potting mix, they immediately started to bolt. The second attempt, I sowed them directly into a pot and covered it with plastic wrap until the seedlings just began to pop up. They germinated just fine (again) but were left outside, and from what I can tell bolted because of the overnight temperature fluctuation. This time, I sowed them directly into a pot (deep enough to support the taproot) covered with plastic wrap until the seeds germinated with a 60:40 mix of regular potting mix and perlite, and keep it under 24-hour light with a 26W "Daylight" CFL in a reflector clamp (I keep the light about 3-4" away from the top of the plant.) Also, I water it only when the top 1/2" of soil is dry. About a month later, so far so good. The stems are still flexible (not woody), and (as of right now) it has 5 fat, healthy leaves getting ready to open!

I have put plastic wrap over the whole pot on saturday and they seem to be sprouting.....I hope I hope