coriander - reaching for the sky

[queen of the cobs]

Hi All,

I planted a pot of coriander that I'd bought from the garden centre a few weeks ago and it seemed to have settled in well. Then I noticed a central woody shoot growing. Now it's about 3 feet high and there doesn't seem to be any other growth. It looks liike a little coriander tree! Is this usual? I've only ever seen coriander in pots from the supermarket. Should I pinch out the tip and hope it will bush out? And will it overwinter?

thanks so much.

[goddess]

hi,my supermarket bought coriander did the same so i cut them down above a leaf joint and its pushing more leaves.they bolt very quickly so you might want to put more or sow some seeds.they don't live outside through the winter.g

[Two_Sheds]

the supermarket ones don't transplant well ... they're grown to be eaten, not to be, er, grown...
sow some proper seeds and off you go

[Vegmonkey]

Hi, i completely agree with the coriander bolting quickly. Ours has just gone to seed, it was planted from seed though. I hardly even used it as i was worried if i took too much from it, it would die. The parsley that was planted with it seems to be ok.

I'm going to let it carry on as read previously that it is quite prolific. I think covering it, and spreading the seed myself will enable, lots of little coriander plants to grow, and keep me smiling all summer long! Otherwise i think they might just spread themselves round the garden.

If i was you i'd grow it from seed, rather than buying from supermarket. You know you will have healthy plnats, and you can grow as much as you can handle!

[Snadger]

Coriander must be an aquired taste either that or I have an allergy to it! I have no other allergies but after nipping the flower heads off my seed sown coriander the stench made me want to vomit! I'm not being over the top hear, the smell of it did actually make me wretch!

Is it only me? or are there other grapes out there who have a reaction to this herb??

[valmarg]

Not so much a reaction to it Snadger, but just can't stand the stuff. The fresh green leaves smell like mouldy rotten damp cardboard. Yeuk!!

Love the seeds and ground seeds in spice mixes, but the fresh stuff, horrible, vile, are just two adjectives that readily spring to mind!!

valmarg

[Katie B]

Coriander

I've found that coriander smells different as soon as it flowers, and I've also been told that the leaves turn bitter as soon as it starts to flower. I absolutely love coriander so always try and pinch out the flowers when they start to develop in the hope they will produce more leaves. You have to be vigilant though and I always forget. hence my plants are all flowering happily away and there are no more leaves coming. D'oh!

[FoxHillGardener]

Coriander is the devil's herb

Coriander leaves make me really poorly, the ground seeds are ok as a spice, but the leaves, blergh. Apparently Roger Moore suffers from the same thing http://observer.guardian.co.uk/foodm...761115,00.html

[Flummery]

I don't like the leaves either - I once described them as smelling like an old lady's handbag. Now I am an old lady I take that back - I don't use a handbag! I love the crushed seeds however. I can't claim it as an alergy, more a strong antipathy.

[moggssue]

Apparently, you don't get the spicy flavour until you get the nasty smell. If you want the seeds rather than the leaves wait until the smell becomes sweeter (well, more aniseedy really!) and then the seeds should be ready to use in your curries.