cilantro boy did I blow it

GWN on 4/1/2012, 12:15 pm

I have been getting all the plants that I planted toooo early, planted in my hoop house.
It is only a little bit warmer in there than it is outside and it freezes in there most nights,
however the celery has been there for a few weeks and the spinach, yesterday I transplanted the cilantro in there, not checking how many to put in per square and put in 9 plants per square, and now I notice that it is only supposed to be one plant per square.
Any cilantro growers out there.... really ..... only one per square...??
I think I am going to have to find a new home for my cilantro....

**camprn** on 4/1/2012, 12:45 pm

No worries, you can transplant it again later. Very Happy

Tuxdad on 4/1/2012, 12:53 pm

Something my "Granny" use to do in her cold frame to prevent freezing was to burn a candle inside it.. She'd leave just enough gap so the candle wouldn't go out..

HTH Smile

GWN on 4/1/2012, 1:07 pm

burn a candle inside it.

Cool idea, they suggest in cold areas to keep a candle in your car, in case you become stranded, it will increase the temperature in the car a degree or so ??

So would she use one a night?

**Turan** on 4/1/2012, 3:22 pm

Maybe it depends on the variety of cilantro? I try for about 4/sq, like parsley. If it goes into coriander mode it takes more room but up here still is comfy at 4.

Goosegirl on 4/1/2012, 3:46 pm

It definitely will shade out other things if you let it bolt and flower - which is not necessarily a bad thing, because it is great for attracting pollinators. I never even have to plant the stuff anymore because it reseeds itself so well. I use what I want of the volunteers and let a few well-placed ones continue on to help with pollination. It is also one of those plants that I love to rub in my hands to let the scent cloud the square!

GG

GWN on 4/1/2012, 4:22 pm

I make pesto with it, LOVE the aroma as well.
I had not thought about it getting tall.... Perhaps I need to look at the picture on the seem package
I have it lined up to be on south side of peppers and then tomatoes behind them on the north side...

**walshevak** on 4/1/2012, 7:09 pm

Peppers and tomatos will be even taller.

Kay

Too Tall Tomatoes on 4/1/2012, 7:13 pm

@Goosegirl wrote:It definitely will shade out other things if you let it bolt and flower - which is not necessarily a bad thing, because it is great for attracting pollinators. I never even have to plant the stuff anymore because it reseeds itself so well. I use what I want of the volunteers and let a few well-placed ones continue on to help with pollination. It is also one of those plants that I love to rub in my hands to let the scent cloud the square!

GG

If it flowers and goes to seed, you can have dried coriander which is an excellent spice.

GWN on 4/1/2012, 8:26 pm

so really all I have to do is take 8 plants OUT of every square. and put somewhere else...
Last year my cilantro bolted rather early and I really never got to enjoy it, I think because I planted kind of late.

Chopper on 4/2/2012, 12:37 am

I think I put 4 cilantro per square and that worked out great. A lot of them I let go to seed too. Plenty of room.

shannon1 on 4/2/2012, 3:53 am

I remember one member who just scattered the seeds in the square and ate the thinings. When I grow it for the leaves I plant four per square when I grow it for the seeds (coriander) 1 per square and man do the bebefical insects love it I have seen lady bugs, hover flys, and tiny wasps nectoring on the flowers.

shannon1 on 4/2/2012, 3:57 am

I am willing to bet if you stay snip happy 9 per square will be just fine. I was glad I planted my tom thumb lettuce 9 per square. They did great and I had tons of lettuce. If we don't try new things how will we learn? It is a risk of course but most of the time I for one have been rewarded for taking risks much more often then not.

Unmutual on 4/2/2012, 6:55 am

@Turan wrote:Maybe it depends on the variety of cilantro? I try for about 4/sq, like parsley. If it goes into coriander mode it takes more room but up here still is comfy at 4.

I'll agree with that assessment. While my herbs are not in SFG(I save all of those for food production), I planted 3 cilantro and they REALLY took off just before flowering. I didn't notice any pest issues being that close either(they're in a row though, not in a block like they would be in SFG).

TejasTerry on 4/2/2012, 8:51 am

I planted my cilantro 2 per square. It is just big enough now where I can use it each day by snipping leaves. I'm in Texas where we cook A LOT of mexican food, so it is used daily.

elliephant on 4/2/2012, 10:42 am

I decided to tuck my cilantro in spots and spaces here and there this year, hoping the shade will help it not bolt too soon. I think I read about someone else doing that here.

Tuxdad on 4/2/2012, 5:19 pm

@GWN wrote:
burn a candle inside it.
Cool idea, they suggest in cold areas to keep a candle in your car, in case you become stranded, it will increase the temperature in the car a degree or so ??

So would she use one a night?

Not sure how many she used, I was kinda young still.. I do remember later on she modded her cold frame by drilling a hole somewhere along the side(instead of leaving a gap in the door) of it for the candle, so it didn't snuff out..

I think I answered this earlier but didn't check what I wrote.. It may have looked quite like jibberish I'm sure... Embarassed

I was a bit tired at the time... Thanks to the Mods for deleting it... cilantro boy did I blow it 61949

H_TX_2 on 4/2/2012, 5:30 pm

I like elliephants idea about tucking the cilantro into small places in the garden. My cilantro does not seem to get very bushy but yet it does get tall and flimsy. Last year I made the mistake of planting only one round of cilantro; I didn't know it bolted so quickly. This year I am using one square and dividing that square into 4 small squares. In one of those smaller squares made 5 holes to place my cilantro seeds into. My hope is that this will give them a bit of support growing together and they will not be so flimsy and floppy. This will allow me to have a continuous crop and grow 20+ plants per square. I will report back with how this works.

TN_GARDENER on 4/2/2012, 6:56 pm

@shannon1 wrote:I remember one member who just scattered the seeds in the square and ate the thinings. When I grow it for the leaves I plant four per square when I grow it for the seeds (coriander) 1 per square and man do the bebefical insects love it I have seen lady bugs, hover flys, and tiny wasps nectoring on the flowers.

I'm growing cilantro in containers. I scattered a bunch and it's doing better than my old method (spaced)

Not my plants, but mine were similar (they've tripled in size).

GWN on 4/2/2012, 9:10 pm

That looks great too.
Today I was cleaning out my perennial garden and I have about 6 small planters that are 1.5 ftx 7 inches, x 7 inches tall, the perennials were totally overgrown in them and it is clear that that is not where perennials should be, So I am thinking these long narrow beds would make for great beds for my cilantro, and I could find a semi shady place for them that way as well. PLUS that gives me roughly 12 more square feet....

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