Coriander, Kinza Seeds

Split or soak before sowing?

Soaking is advised and splitting is optional. Each coriander "seed" is a fruit holding two single-seeded halves, and Indian extension guidance recommends splitting it into halves and soaking the seed in water for 12 hours before sowing. A Canadian guide reports that splitting did not affect germination in seed that germinated above 80%.

How fast does it come up?

Expect emergence in about 8–15 days in soil (field sowing). Seed-testing laboratories germinate coriander at alternating 20/30 °C (about 20–30 °C). Both are typical figures for the species, not a test result for this lot.

Depth, spacing and soil

Cover the seed with about 1.3 cm (½ in) of soil, then thin seedlings to about 20 cm apart in rows 45–60 cm apart; field crops are sown 2.5–4 cm deep. Well-drained silt or loam soil suits coriander, and it performs well at 20–25 °C.

Why does coriander bolt, and how can I delay it?

Temperature and day length both influence flowering, and hot, humid weather triggers bolting: in midsummer coriander typically flowers and sets seed within four to six weeks. Grow it in a cool or semi-shaded spot in the warm season and sow small batches every few weeks.

Leaf or seed: when to harvest

Pull plants for leaf at 30–40 days old, or cut leaves when plants are about 15 cm (6 in) tall. For seed, wait until the flower heads turn brown and the fruits are fully ripe but still green and starting to dry, and harvest before they drop. Recognised varieties and types mature in roughly 90–120 days from sowing.

Pots and transplanting

Coriander can be grown in containers, but sow it where it will stay: the long taproot makes transplanting difficult.

When to sow around the world

Coriander is a cool-season crop: sow it in early spring or late summer where winters are cold, and in autumn or winter where summers are hot, because heat and long days make it flower before it has grown many leaves.

• Cold-winter temperate climates. In Wisconsin, USA, sow in early spring, about when lettuce goes in, and in mid-August for an autumn leaf crop; summer sowings generally bolt before they produce much. Mature plants tolerate light freezing but not a hard freeze. A seed crop on the Canadian prairies is sown from late April to mid-May, once the danger of frost is over.
• Mild-winter climates. In Sonoma County, California, coriander is grown from about 1 May to mid-November, because it tolerates neither frost nor heat. In Tulare and Kings counties, California, the advised sowing windows are early autumn and early spring.
• South-eastern Europe. In Plovdiv, Bulgaria, October–November was the most suitable sowing time for the variety tested, ahead of January–February.
• Southern Hemisphere. Brazilian seed-production guidance gives planting in April–June in the irrigated São Francisco valley (Bahia and Pernambuco) and preferably April–May in northern Minas Gerais, and advises against winter sowing in colder or higher-altitude areas because of frost.
• Tropical and subtropical lowlands. Sow in the cooler months. In a year-round trial in Bangladesh, leaf yield was highest from sowings in December and January and poorest from April to early October. In Florida, extension advice is to grow coriander in autumn and winter.

Also known as

Coriander (seed), cilantro and Chinese parsley (leaf), Kinza, dhania, dhaniya, coentro, coriandre, Koriander, coriandolo, kolendra, kuzbara and geshniz.