Coriander

2024 Author: Gavin MacAdam | [email protected]. Last modified: 2024-01-07 15:51

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Latin name: Coriandrum sativum Family: Umbrella Categories: Herbs

Sowing coriander (Latin Coriandrum sativum) - spicy herb; an annual plant of the Umbrella family. The second name is cilantro. The plant is native to the Eastern Mediterranean.

Characteristics of cultur

Coriander is a herbaceous plant with a fusiform root. Stem glabrous, erect, branched in the upper part, reaches a height of 40-70 cm. Basal leaves are large, dissected, broad-lobed, the edges are incised-serrate, located on long petioles. The lower leaves are doubly pinnately dissected, short-petiolate; middle and upper - sessile, with linear lobules.

The flowers are small, can be pink or white, collected in umbellate inflorescences, located on long peduncles, form 3-5 rays. The marginal flowers reach 2-5 mm in length. The fruit is drooping, not decaying, ovoid or spherical, has ten sinuous and twelve straight ribs. Depending on the honeycomb and weather conditions, the flowering of coriander begins in June - July, and the fruits ripen in July - August.

Growing conditions

Coriander is a cold-resistant plant, young plants tolerate frosts down to -5C. The optimum temperature for normal development is 20-25C. Soils are preferable light, moderately moist, loamy or sandy loam, with a neutral or slightly acidic pH reaction. Heavy and poor soils are not suitable for growing crops, the stems of the plants are strongly elongated. The culture develops well, both in sunny and shaded areas.

Soil preparation and sowing

Sowing of coriander is carried out in early spring (in the third decade of April), when the soil, after the snow melts, is fully saturated with moisture. The plot for sowing the culture is carefully dug to a depth of 15 cm, loosened with a rake, breaking earth lumps, and humus, nitrophosphate and wood ash are added.

The seeding depth is 1.5-2 cm. The distance between the plants should be about 12-13 cm, and between the rows - 15-30 cm. The seeds do not need pre-sowing treatment. To obtain an early harvest of greenery, the seed beds are covered with plastic wrap, which is not removed until the shoots appear.

You can also grow coriander through seedlings. In this case, sowing is carried out in late February - early March in special seedling boxes or greenhouses. Under favorable conditions, seedlings appear in 2-3 weeks. Transplanting seedlings into open ground is carried out with the appearance of 2-3 true leaves in the seedlings.

Care and harvest

Coriander is a moisture-loving culture; with insufficient watering, the leaves coarse and become unsuitable for food. Watering is carried out twice a week at the rate of 5 liters per 1 sq. m. During the gain of the mass of leaves, the volume and frequency of watering are increased. From the moment coriander has umbrellas, watering is reduced.

The culture also needs systematic weeding and loosening, since even small compaction on the soil surface becomes an obstacle to normal development. Top dressing during active growth of coriander should not be carried out, but immediately after cutting the greens, this procedure is simply necessary.

Collect coriander greens, when the plant height reaches 15-20 cm, it is undesirable to wait for the buds to appear. The cut greens are dried in the shade, placed in glass jars and covered with plastic lids. The collection of seeds is carried out in August - September, they are also dried, but in the open sun, threshed and laid out in paper bags.

Application

Coriander is widely used in cooking, it is used to add a pleasant aroma to dishes. It is often used in cosmetics, perfumery and soap making.