Category: growing

Cilantro needs its own space in the garden where you can harvest it and then let it go to seed. It grows fast in the cool weather of spring and fall, creating a rosette of lacy leaves. When the weather gets warm, the plant sends up a long, lanky flower stalk bearing flat umbels of white or pinkish blossoms which later produce coriander seeds. Plant cilantro in a bed devoted to herbs where it can reseed, or in a corner of the vegetable garden.

In mild climates, cilantro makes a handsome winter companion to pansies. Leaves withstand a light frost.

Soil, Planting, and Care

It is best to dedicate a patch of garden to cilantro since it self-sows. Seeds germinate in about 7 to 10 days.

Cilantro is best grown by directly sowing seed in the garden for two reasons. It grows so quickly it needs no head start indoors, and since cilantro develops a taproot, it doesn’t like being transplanted.

South

Grow cilantro in full sun and well-drained soil with a pH of 6.2 to 6.8; it will tolerate light shade in the South and Southwest where the sun is intense. In the South and Southwest, plant 12 to 18 inches apart in the fall or the spring about a month before the last frost. Fall is the ideal time to plant in zones 8, 9, and 10 because the plants will last through until the weather heats up in late spring. When plants begin to bloom, the foliage becomes scarce; for steady harvest, set out plants every 3 to 4 weeks until the weather gets warm in spring, or until the first frost of fall.

North of the border
Cilantro is productive for only about 6 weeks in cooler climes, so here are some tips on dealing with cilantro’s persnickety nature.
• Dedicate a small patch of garden to cilantro.
• Direct sow plants every 2 to 3 weeks, starting about 2 weeks before the last frost date (around May 15).
• Once the plants bolt, allow them to go to seed. (Cilantro bolts when temperatures climb above 75°F for a few consecutive days.)
• Retain the patch so self-sown plants will come up in the spring.

Application of compost around the base of the plant adds nutrients, helps retain water, and keeps the roots cool.

Cilantro frequently self sows. As seeds fall to the ground, little plants often come up during the season and the following spring.

CULTIVATION

Prepare soil by adding some compost or other organic matter to the planting area and working it into the soil to a depth of at least 18 inches. Rake the area smooth. Sow cilantro seeds 1/4-inch deep directly in the garden in late spring or early summer. Sow seeds or thin to 6 to 8 inches apart in rows spaced about 1 foot apart. Provide plenty of moisture and feed cilantro plants with a water-soluble fertilizer when they reach about 2 inches in height.

Since cilantro grows so quickly, it can also be sown again in the fall in warmer zones. For a steady supply of fresh leaves all summer, make successive sowings of cilantro seed every 2 to 3 weeks beginning in the spring.

Cilantro Harvest Tips

For Cilantro

Harvest cilantro by cutting the leafy stems near ground level. Cut only about one-third of the plant at a time. The leaves can be cut at any time. Use the upper, new, finely cut leaves in cooking, but not the mature, lower ferny-type leaves. Cilantro is not normally saved and dried like other culinary herbs since, as stated, it loses almost its entire flavor when dried. Harvest cilantro by cutting the leafy stems near ground level. Cut only about one-third of the plant at a time.

For Coriander
The large coriander seeds are easy to harvest and handle. Harvest on a dry day. Cut the top of the stems when the seedpods begin to turn brown and crack if pressed. Make sure pods are harvested before they release seeds into the garden. Once stems are cut, place seedpods in a paper bag so seeds will be caught. Finish the ripening process for a few weeks in a dark, well-ventilated, cool place. Pods can be shaken or rolled around in your hands to release the seeds. Harvest the seeds by clipping the brown, round seed heads; place upside down in a paper bag. In a few days, the round husks will dry and split in two, dropping the edible seed inside. Don’t delay seed harvest, or the weak stems will fall over.

If you’re growing the plant for seed, don’t bother fertilizing since that may delay flowering and thus seed production.

Troubleshooting

Cilantro will grow tall and wispy as it starts to bloom. The white flowers later produce the seeds we all know as coriander.

Cilantro occasionally has problems with aphids and whitefly, wilt, or mildew. For the insects, use insecticidal soap. To prevent or control wilt and mildew, make sure you clean up spent cilantro plants at the end of the season, and remove any infected plants as soon as possible.

One of the surprises that most gardeners get from cilantro is that it moves through its life cycle so quickly, especially in spring. If you are lucky enough to live in a mild winter climate, fall and winter give you the longest season to harvest. Once you understand this fast little plant, it’s easy to manage. Give it its own patch in the garden where you can harvest, then ignore, then harvest again. Harvest while it’s low, let it get tall when it wants to, then cut off the tall plants after the seeds drop to get it out of the way. This makes room for the new plants that start themselves from the fallen seeds. Or, of course, you can set out new plants every 3 to 4 weeks for as long as we have them in the stores, but the harvest and ignore technique will get you through the in-between times.

You can harvest cilantro’s foliage continually in the cooler months of spring and fall and through winter in areas without hard freezes. Harvest by cutting the leafy stems near ground level; most will be around 6 to 12 inches long. Avoid cutting more than one-third of the leaves at one time, or you may weaken the plant. Fertilize with Herb & Vegetable Plant Food or fish emulsion after 4 or 5 harvests.

Since we are taking leaves often frequent fertilization is a must to keep the leaves coming

it will start to yellow if it is not fertilized regularly. Keeping it fertilized means more leaves for us to harvest….more salsa at my house. Cilantro leaves may also fade from that dark green color when it is grown in soggy soils.

Uses

Growing cilantro adds a lot of healthy, fresh flavor to your kitchen. Freshly chopped cilantro is an excellent source of potassium, is low in calories, and is good for the digestive system. It is best to use fresh cilantro in cooking since it loses its flavor when dried. Add chopped leaves at the last minute for maximum flavor. Cilantro blends well with mint, cumin, chives, garlic, and marjoram. Store by freezing the leaves in cubes of water or oil; you can dry them, too, but they lose a lot of their flavor this way, which explains why growing your own is far better than buying it from the spice rack.

Store coriander seeds in a cool cabinet or the refrigerator. Use them in curry, poultry, relishes, and pickles.

Q&A

My cilantro is tall and lanky with few leaves.

It sounds like your cilantro has started to bloom. Once the weather begins to get warm in late spring or early summer, cilantro will transition from a round, leafy plant with parsley-like foliage into a taller, lacy-leaved plant with white flowers in clusters at the top. In a few weeks, you’ll see round seeds forming. When harvested, these can be ground into coriander. If you leave them to mature, plants will fall to the ground and sprout again in the fall or early spring. While your plant will die after flowering, its offspring will take over, giving you a seasonal supply of flavorful foliage. Without adequate lighting though, expect the cilantro to grow ‘leggy’ or spindly.

Year round cilantro?

Summary

• direct sow two or three seeds, 1″ deep on small hill, 3 feet apart, when no chance of frost
• needs plenty of sun
• use compost mulch. keep 2 inches from plant base
• harvest fruit when 6 to 8 inches long
• use pruning shears to cut fruit when harvesting
• keep base of plant cleared of debris
• check once a week, under leaves, for squash bug eggs
• prolonged rainy weather or hot weather may produce less fruit (less bee activity)
• marigolds attract bees

Summer Squash

Summer squash (also known as vegetable or Italian marrow), is a  tender, warm-season vegetable that can be grown throughout  the United States anytime during the warm, frost-free season.  Summer squash differs from fall and winter squash in that it  is selected to be harvested before the rind hardens and the  fruit matures. It grows on bush-type plants that do not spread like the plants of fall and winter squash and pumpkin. A few healthy and well-maintained plants produce abundant yields.

Recommended Varieties

Summer squash appears in many different fruit shapes and colors:

Scallop or Patty Pan is round and flattened like a plate with scalloped edges, usually white but sometimes yellow or green.

Constricted neck is thinner at the  stem end than the blossom end, classified as either “crookneck” or “straightneck” depending on if the stem end is straight or bent, and is usually yellow.

Cylindrical to club-shaped Italian marrows, such as zucchini, cocozelle and caserta, are usually shades of  green, but may be yellow or nearly white.

The varietal selection of summer squash has markedly changed in recent years and the number of varieties offered has greatly expanded as the result of new interest, hybridization and  introduction of disease resistance. The number of varieties is  staggering. Recommended varieties of summer squash include:

Zucchini (Open Pollinated)

Black Zucchini (best known summer  squash; greenish black skin, white flesh)

Black Beauty (slender, with slight  ridges, dark black-green)

Cocozelle (dark green overlaid  with light green stripes; long, very slender fruit)

Vegetable Marrow White Bush (creamy  greenish color, oblong shape)

Zucchini (hybrid)

Aristocrat (All America Selection  winner; waxy; medium green)

Chefini (AAS winner; glossy, medium dark green)

Classic (medium green; compact, open  bush)

Elite (medium green; lustrous sheen; extra early; open plant)

Embassy (medium green, few spines, high yield)

President (dark green, light green  flecks; upright plant)

Spineless Beauty (medium dark green; spineless petioles)

Golden Zucchini (hybrid)

Gold Rush (AAS winner, deep gold  color, superior fruit quality, a zucchini not a straightneck)

Yellow Crookneck

Early Yellow Summer Crookneck (classic open-pollinated crookneck; curved neck; warted; heavy yields)

Sundance (hybrid; early; bright  yellow, smooth skin)

Yellow Straightneck

Early Prolific Straightneck (standard  open-pollinated straightneck, light cream color, attractive straight fruit)

Goldbar (hybrid; golden yellow; upright, open plant)

Scallop

White Bush Scallop (old favorite Patty  Pan type, very pale green when immature, very tender)

Peter Pan (hybrid, AAS winner, light  green)

Scallopini (hybrid, AAS winner)

Sunburst (hybrid, bright yellow, green spot at the blossom end)

Other

Butter Blossom (an open-pollinated  variety selected for its large, firm male blossoms; fruit may be  harvested like summer squash, but remove female blossoms for  largest supply of male blossoms)

Gourmet Globe (hybrid; globe-shaped; dark green, with light stripes; delicious)

Sun Drops (hybrid, creamy yellow, unique oval shape, may be harvested as baby with blossoms attached).

When to Plant

Plant anytime after the danger of frost has passed, from early  spring until midsummer. Some gardeners have two main plantings – one for early summer harvest and another for late summer and fall  harvest.

Direct-seeding is the preferred method for starting squash. Use a soil thermometer and sow seeds after the last frost date, once soil has warmed to 70° F at the 2-inch depth.

Spacing & Depth

Starting from Seed

Sow two or three seeds 24 to 36 inches apart for single-plant  production, or four or five seeds in hills 48 inches apart. Cover one inch deep then water. I like to water the seeds for the next three days, unless there is rain. When the plants are 2 to 3 inches tall, thin to one  vigorous plant or no more than two or three plants per hill.

Planting the Seeds

Care

Any well-drained garden soil produces excellent yields of summer squash. Certain mulches increase earliness and yields, because the roots are shallow. Keep mulch 1 to 2 inches from plant base. Use 2 inches of fine mulch.

Harvesting

Because summer squash develop very rapidly after pollination, they are often picked when they are too large and overmature. They  should be harvested when small and tender for best quality.  Most elongated varieties are picked when they are 2 inches or  less in diameter and 6 to 8 inches long. Patty Pan types are  harvested when they are 3 to 4 inches in diameter. Slightly  larger fruit may be salvaged by hollowing out and using them  for stuffing. These larger fruits may also be grated for baking in  breads and other items. Do not allow summer squash to become  large, hard and seedy because they sap strength from the plant  that could better be used to produce more young fruit. Pick  oversized squash with developed seeds and hard skin and throw  them away. Go over the plants every 1 or 2 days. Squash grow  rapidly; especially in hot weather and are usually ready to  pick within 4 to 8 days after flowering.

Although summer squash has both male and female flowers, only the female flowers produce fruits. Because the fruits are harvested when still immature, they bruise and scratch easily. Handle  with care and use immediately after picking. Be careful when  picking summer squash, as the leafstalks and stems are prickly  and can scratch and irritate unprotected hands and arms. Use a  sharp knife or pruning shears to harvest and wear gloves if  possible. Some gardeners also pick the open male and female  blossoms before the fruits develop. Especially the female blossoms, with tiny fruit attached, are a delicacy when dipped in a batter  and fried.

Common Problems

Cucumber beetles attack seedlings, vines and both  immature and mature fruits. They can be controlled with a  suggested insecticide applied weekly either as a spray or  dust. Be alert for an infestation of cucumber beetles in  early September because these beetles can damage the mature fruits.

Squash bugs attack vines as the fruit begin to set  and increase in numbers through the late summer, when they  can be quite damaging to maturing fruit. They hatch and  travel in groups, which seem to travel in herds until they  reach maturity. Using the proper insecticide when the numbers of this pest are still small minimizes damage. The eggs congregate under the leaves in neat rows, usually starting in June.

Lack of Fruit

All squash plants are monoecious, which means there are separate male and female flowers on the same plant. A less common reason for zucchini fruit falling off a plant is blossom end rot. The tell tale signs of this are blacked ends on the stunted fruit. Blossom end rot is caused by lack of calcium in the soil.

Questions & Answers

Q. Will summer squash cross with winter squash?

A. Summer squash varieties can cross with one another, with  acorn squash and with jack-o’-lantern pumpkins.  Cross-pollination is not evident in the current crop, but the seed should not be sown for the following year. Summer squash does not cross with melons or cucumbers.

Selection

Most people harvest summer squash too late. Like winter squash,  summer squash is an edible gourd. Unlike winter squash, it  is harvested at the immature stage. Ideally, summer squash  should be harvested at 6 to 8 inches in length. Pattypan and  scallopini are ready when they measure about 3 to 4 inches  in diameter or less. Tiny baby squash are delicious too.  Large rock-hard squashes serve a better purpose on the compost heap than in the kitchen.

Cut the squash from the vine using a sharp knife or pruning shears to avoid damaging the plant. Summer squash vines are very  prolific, the more harvest the greater the yield. The most  important characteristic to remember is that summer squash  is best when immature, young and tender.

In this section, summer squash varieties will be limited to zucchini, yellow squash (crooked and straight), pattypan which is  also call scalloped and scallopini. Because summer squash is  immature, the skin is very thin and susceptible to damage.  Handle with care. The average family only needs to plant one  or two of each variety. Over planting usually leads to  hoards of huge inedible fruit and/or scouring the neighborhood for people to take the surplus.

Storage

To store summer squash, harvest small squash and place, unwashed in plastic bags in the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. Wash the squash just before preparation. As with most vegetables,  water droplets promote decay during storage. The storage life of summer squash is brief, so use within two to three days.

Squash Blossoms

Squash blossoms are edible flowers, raw or cooked. Both summer and  winter squash blossoms can be battered and fried in a little  oil for a wonderful taste sensation. Harvest only the male  blossoms unless the goal is to reduce production. Male  blossoms are easily distinguished from the female blossoms.  The stem of the male blossom is thin and trim.   The stem of  the female blossom is very thick. At the base of the female  flower below the petals is a small bulge, which is the developing  squash.

Always leave a few male blossoms on the vine for pollination  purposes. There are always many more male flowers than  female. Harvest only the male squash blossoms unless you are  trying to reduce production. The female blossom can be harvested with a tiny squash growing at the end and used in  recipes along with full blossoms. Use the blossom of any  variety of summer or winter squash in your favorite squash blossom recipe.

Use pruning shears or a sharp knife to cut squash blossoms at midday when the petals are open, leaving one inch of stem. Gently  rinse in a pan of cool water and store in ice water in the  refrigerator until ready to use. The flowers can be stored  for a few hours or up to 1 or 2 days. If you’ve never eaten  squash blossoms, you are in for a treat. A recipe for Stuffed  Squash Blossoms is in the recipe portion of this  section.

Nutritional Value

Because summer squash is immature, they are considerably lower in nutritional value than their winter counterparts. Generally,  there is little variation in nutritional value between  varieties. The peel is where many of the nutrients hide, so  never peel summer squash.

Preparation & Serving

Summer squash can be grilled, steamed, boiled, sauteed, fried or used in stir fry recipes. They mix well with onions, tomatoes and okra in vegetable medleys. Summer squash can be used  interchangeably in most recipes. Tinybaby  squash can be used as appetizers, or left whole and sauteed  with other vegetables.

Don’t waste male squash blossoms by leaving them in the garden. If you do not have the time or inclination to prepare them  separately, toss them in the salad bowl or add to any squash preparation.

Cooking Seeds

Cooking summer squash seeds, like pumpkin seeds, are delicious.

Home Preservation

Canning is not recommended because the tender summer squash will  simply turn to mush during processing, unless you are making  pickles. Zucchini can be substituted for cucumbers in some  pickle recipes. The results are especially good in your  favorite recipes for Bread and Butter Pickles.

Blanch and freeze cubes or slices of summer squash or grate and  freeze Zucchini, unblanched for making Zucchini bread. The  best way to use over grown (10 to 12 inches) zucchini is to  grate it and use in zucchini bread. Cut the squash in half  lengthwise and cut away the seedy middle section. Wash,  grate and freeze in one cup portions. Use zip closure  freezer bags or rigid freezer containers leaving 1/2 inch head space. Over size zucchini can also be used to make canned zucchini chutney.  The over 12-inch monsters should go on the compost  heap.

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