What Is Cilantro – How To Harvest Cilantro – Storing Fresh Cilantro – Preserve Cilantro – Harvest Cilantro Seeds – FAQ
When it’s finally the time to harvest your cilantro then it’s very important to be able to know how you should do it. Thankfully harvesting cilantro is a pretty easy thing to do. The herb can manage some pretty harsh pruning.
Below we are showing off some of our best methods to pruning but also harvesting and taking care of the plant afterwards.
What Is Cilantro
Cilantro is a very common herb to use in cooking but perhaps not as common as growing at home in all honesty. The plant grows very well in pretty much any type of climate and environment.
It likes a soil that is kept rather warm but also well watered and never left to dry out. During the day the cilantro will want to get about 6 – 8 hours sunlight at least. That will help the plant keep on track with both the growth and growing back leaves you have harvested.
How To Harvest Cilantro
Harvesting cilantro is a very easy thing to do really. The plant is relatively hardy and can manage some extra pruning and harvest. But as a ground rule we don’t generally recommend taking more than 1 third of the plant at one time.
Start by getting yourself a sharp scissor so that you are getting clean cuts and not bruising the plant when harvesting. Cut the stems close to the main stem of the plant. Don’t leave an empty cilantro plant without any leaves and just stems. Instead take the stems too and use them in your cooking, they are in fact very flavourful too.
After cutting off the stems that you need, water the soil a little bit for the plant and find a sunny spot to place it. That way it has a very easy time to regrow any part that you took off.
How To Store Fresh Cilantro
If you aren’t about to use all the cilantro you just harvested then you might want to store it correctly quickly so that no flavor is lost from the herb.
We recommend using an air-tight container here with some kitchen paper in the bottom. Leave this box in the fridge to slow down any bacterial growth. The reason we use this method is that it’s important to keep moisture away from the herb. If it’s too humid in the box then the risk of mold starting to grow on the plant greatly increases. Stored the right way you can expect it to last at least 1 week before starting to wilt a little.
How To Preserve Cilantro
There are a number of ways to use and cook cilantro. But preserving it for the long term for us boils down to two different choices, either freezing or drying the herb. They both have their positives and negatives.
How To Freeze Fresh Cilantro
Freezing fresh cilantro is very easy. We have found that the most efficient way of doing it is to use ice cube molds. We layer leaves over each other in these molds and then pour some water over.
Now we have cilantro ice cubes that are very easy to just plop out and use in your cooking. They defrost rather quickly and the flavor of the cilantro will still be there.
How To Dry Fresh Cilantro
Drying fresh cilantro is very simple too. We often tie a bundle of the herb and then let that air dry outside in a room. It will not only make the room smell lovely but the color and the flavor of the herb will still be there.
It might take a long time, between 1 and 2 weeks in total. But stored correctly afterwards you can expect to enjoy it for at least 6 months before the flavor starts to disappear.
How To Harvest Cilantro Seeds
Harvesting the seeds from the cilantro plant is mostly an act of patience. We need the plant to start flowering and then afterwards begin to develop seeds. You need the flowers to get pollinated for this to happen, so keep the plant outside to make it happen.
Let the seeds by themselves develop and fall off. Taking them too early ight make them viable to planting and getting new cilantro plants.
FAQ
How To Harvest Cilantro That Has Flowered
Harvesting cilantro that has flowered is no different from one that hasn’t flowered. Cut off stems with leaves just as you normally would. You could even take some of the flowers too, they are really tasty and provide some nice spiciness to a salad for example.
How To Harvest Cilantro Without Killing The Plant
The best way of avoiding killing a cilantro plant when harvesting it we just need to adjust the amount we are taking. We often recommend that you don’t take more than about 1 third of the plant at once. That way we are keeping the plant able to grow back once again.
Will Cilantro Grow Back After Cutting
The cilantro plant will definitely be able to grow back after cutting the plant. Just make sure you aren’t taking too much at a time. Place the cilantro in a very sunny spot afterwards and water the soil slightly too, that way it will regrow rather quickly.
Additional Information
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