Plant · P-603

Cilantro

Coriandrum sativum

Cilantro is really two crops from one plant: the leaf, cut young for salads and soups, and the ripe seed, sold as coriander and used as a spice and digestive aid. It repels aphids and carrot root fly and is a documented companion for anise, dill and chervil, though it should not share a bed with fennel grown for seed since it suppresses fennel's seed set. Heat rather than cold limits it - it does not fail so much as bolt to seed quickly once summer turns hot, so a steady leaf supply comes from sowing every few weeks through the cool part of the year rather than one spring planting. It self-sows readily, and a bolted plant is not wasted - it is simply the seed crop starting.