Hey what is the difference between the leaf cilantro I buy at the market and the seed cilantro that looks like dill??? Z
Cilantro
Not 100% sure but I think theres two kinds, one you grow for the leaf and one for seed production
basically all the same- some are said not to bolt- but all eventually do, at which time they get tall and the stalks that carry the flowers and then seeds have more ferny looking leaves than the immature plant- so the whole look of the plant changes. As with dill, there are varieties that are slower to bolt so those are more popular for leaf harvest. a yummy plant in all forms!
Aren't the seeds called corriander?
Yep, that's coriander.
Funny thing about this herb ---- it not only looks totally different when it bolts, the immature leaves and the seeds taste completely different also! I keep trying to develop a taste for cilantro, but so far, no luck. My whole family detests cilantro, but it seems that nobody minds coriander (in fact, I really like it!)
I will post pix of my cilantro.
I planted on Labor Day 2006, with seed I harvested from the spring crop.
This one is when the plants were young.
This message was edited Apr 6, 2007 9:12 AM
This one is as they are going to seed.
Here is the row.
Glad I came across this thread!
I was also going to post a question on why the Cilantro I grew from see "bolted" so quickly and now looks all ferny on top and is making little, white flowers?????
Should I pinch off the ferny part?
Will that help the rest of the plant grow back fuller as a regular Cilantro?
Am I understanding (from the above posts) that the ferny part is called
"Coriander" while the regular-leaved part is Cilantro? The seed
package I grew these from had "Coriander" on it.
As far as the taste and smell go, yes! it is overwhelming. I just used it all chopped up in some marinade I made for a lot od chicken pieces.
Here's a picture of mine--just starting to grow the ferny part of the leaves. Someone explain this to me, please!!!!!
Thanks, Gita
Mine is bolting also and I would like to know if the seeds forming can be pinched off.
Those seeds can be collected for new plants. The seeds are circular pods and there usually two seeds inside each pod. I noticed that germinating the pods are more difficult than removing the seeds from the pods and just germinating the seeds.
My frustrating experiences with cilantro is that once it bolts, it pretty well done. You can get the seeds from the plants and either use them to cook with or plant them. The best way to have a supply of cilantro is to sow new seeds periodically every couple of weeks. But then in the middle of summer it doesn't really thrive in the heat. I did have seeds that self sowed and grew in spring the following year. Despite my bad luck in growing this, I continue to try. One day maybe I can grow enough that I'll have a decent supply.
Hi miatablu,
Your experience sounds similar to ours but when we went to succession planting (a little plot of cilantro started about every three weeks apart) it seems to have provided a sufficient supply. We use a lot of it for cooking, and there is no substitute (in my opinion) for fresh cilantro straight from the garden and always in exactly the amount you need instead of a huge (and expensive) bundle of aging cilantro from the supermarket.
I don't even know WHY I bothered growing any from seed!!! I can go to the grocery store up the street and get BIG bunches of Parsley or Cilantro for 69 cents.
Messing around with seed-growing is totally inexplainable in this case.
Gita
Hi Gitagal,
LOL! Yes, I suppose it is kind of crazy, but I do like growing things from seed and cilantro really isn't too bad with a little patience and halfway favorable conditions. Plus the fresh produce sections in some small town grocery stores leave a lot to be desired, so some things really are better when grown fresh in one's own garden. I guess variety is the spice (or herb in this case) of life!
Gita, you're absolutely right, but at this point I'm just to mule-headed to stop trying :^/
It's even pretty in the herb garden as a filler flower. I just let it go to seed and if you have a large enough patch some of it should be OK to pick.
I wish I could get it to GET to the bolting stage! The heat here kills it quickly. I plan to plant some again in September and see if it won't grow well in the fall here.
If you are having problems with your cilantro bolting too soon (as it quite often does) try the other variety. The 2nd variety doesn't even resemble the normal cilantro plant, it has flat jagged leaves that are 3/4 inch wide. Look under the name Mexican Cilantro, Mexican Coriander, Culantro, and Palato. It has the same flavor, but handles different growing conditions that the normal cilantro can't, which causes it to go to seed so quickly.
Dunno. Mine just bolt when heat comes. It leafs and leafs and leafs until heat wave and boom. It bolts.. But too probably will kill it if it's not really really well watered..