Cilantro Gone To Seed

[ninnymary]

Well I didn't know that cilantro bolted so fast. I hardly got to eat any of it. I left some to go to seed. My problem is that I'm impatient. The seed heads have been on there for about a month. When can I harvest them? What do I look for? I'm anxious to pull them out to plant something else. I planted it in the front of the bed not knowing that when it went to seed that it would be 4' tall!

Mary

 

[sonjab314]

I was curious about this myself because I just planted some cilantro the other day. Here is a site I found. Hope this answers your question.

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/herbs/msg0712064125406.html

 

[ninnymary]

Thanks sonjab...I'm concerned that they say you won't get the same quality plant next year from this years seeds. Anyone experience that?

Mary

 

[patandchickens]

I just wait til it is rattley-dry and the seeds come off very easily. Requires a good bit of cleaning (winnowing out all the little tiny bits of dried yutz) if you are going to use it as coriander in the kitchen; can ignore those bits if you are going to replant.

I've only ever replanted one generation (not carrying them along for year after year after year), but the plants I got from that seemed perfectly fine.

Pat

 

[hoodat]

I do the same. Just close your hand around the head and if they're ready they will fall off in your hand. I think the fall off in quality only happens with hybrid celantro. I plant it year after year from saved seed and have no trouble. Hybrid celantro gives bigger leaves but the flavor is better on the heirloom type.

 

[MarkR]

I haven't bought a new cilantro plant in years. Usually, I let it go to seed. Half to three quarters of it I cut and hang to dry, then once it's dry, shake the seeds out and put them in a jar. I seem to get more flavor out of the seed if I let them hang and dry on the plant. The rest I let sit out and reseed. I have a pretty big cilantro patch.

That being said, this year, the cilantro bolted about 11 days after it came up. Summer heat arrived about three weeks early here. That was reflected by the state of the cilantro, lettuce, arugula, etc. It seems to bolt as soon as the temps hit about 90.