How to Grow Cilantro So You Have It Forever

Cilantro is one of the plants that confuses most gardeners. In fact, in my DMs, most of the questions are about, "Why does my cilantro look like this? Why is it bolting? Why can't I keep cilantro alive?" And I'm going to show you how to keep it alive, not just keep it alive, but turn it into plants that you can have year after year. So much cilantro that you could give it to all your neighbors and friends for the rest of your life. Cilantro is in the Apiaceae plant family, meaning the same plant family that carrots, dill, parsley, I think even rutabaga. They're all in the same plant family, and this was my first unlock with cilantro because I too had trouble growing it. Every time I plant it right alongside my tomatoes, it would immediately start to create those little feathery leaves and then go to seed, and I'm like, "What's wrong? Why can't I do this?" The answer is in this plant family because all those other plants, guess what kind of weather they like? They don't like it when it's hot. They don't like it in the season when the tomatoes are growing. They like it when it's cool. Cilantro is a plant that actually thrives when there's a chance of frost, when your high temperatures are actually below 65°F and your temperatures drop to freezing in the evenings. So cilantro unfortunately is often sold at the store right alongside tomato plants. Have you seen this? I see this all the time. You go down to the hardware store and they've got tomatoes, they've got peppers, and they've got cilantro. Why? Because we're all thinking the same thing: garden salsa, right? All the ingredients are right there, and the problem is when the tomatoes and the peppers grow, the cilantro bolts. So instead of planting cilantro your tomatoes, you're going to start way ahead. You're going to start in the spring or in the fall when the temperatures are cool and there is a chance of frost. This cilantro was started by seed way back in February. Yes, I know, February, when there was a lot of frost, when the temps were dropping. That's when the seeds go in the soil. Cilantro takes about 50 to 60 days to grow from seed to harvest, and you can start harvesting from your cilantro right away. You're going to cut regularly and often. You're going to cut from the outside and the lower parts of the plant, and you're going to come and do this every week. This is essential if you want to have cilantro for life. You have to cut from it. You don't just let it grow wild. As soon as it starts to give you those leafy greens, you're going to come and harvest from it every single week. That's around day 50 to 60. At this point, the temperatures are going to be rising. This is just about the moment when your tomatoes go into the ground, and when the soil temps and the external temps rise, cilantro sends a signal to itself where it starts to go to flower. This is when the leaves are going to start to get more feathery, and this is when you're going to see the start of these tiny little flowers on your cilantro, little white flowers, and this is the beginning of the magic. Now the best part is yet to come, but a good thing even happens right now because all these little white flowers on your cilantro, they bring in ladybugs, bees, butterflies, and if they're growing right alongside your tomatoes, they're going to help them produce more fruit because all of these little flowers on your tomatoes, they need bees and butterflies. They need pollinators to move the pollen around, and your cilantro flowers are bringing them in. But then the coolest thing happens. Just as your tomatoes are starting to fruit, they don't really necessarily need as many new pollinators to come around them, your cilantro is on its way to multiplying itself. Every single one of these little tiny flowers, it turns into these tiny little seed pods. Every little flower turns into maybe 4 or 5 seed pods. So in this little section here, planted with just one pack of seed, there's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5— there's probably 7 plants here. And here In this little bunch of craziness, there are at least 1,000 cilantro seeds. Now if you see these at the grocery store, they're going to be called coriander, and they're used as a spice. So you can actually just take these off and you can enjoy them right away as a spice in your cooking. You can put them in little jars, gift them to your neighbors. It's a perfect summer gift for your friends and family, and you'll have so many— I mean, we're talking thousands here— that you can put them in little seed packets and get them ready for the fall. You can plant some this fall, and then as soon as you're through winter, You can plant more in the spring, and guess what? For every little seed of cilantro that you plant, you get hundreds of seeds in return, and this is how you will never ever run out of cilantro. Now I made an entire video about how this happens with basil too, and you're going to want to watch it right here.