Humbled by Cilantro

I probably should have read up on how to grow cilantro.  Apparently cilantro flowers pretty young in its life and, once it flowers, the leaves lose their flavor and it stops growing.

I love flowers.. normally.

There are all sorts of techniques for delaying flowering.  If I'm honest, I don't even really like cilantro that much.  It's not really worth it to me to grow something so short lived and fussy.  Apparently the dried seeds from the flower are delicious as well, so I'll probably harvest the seeds and then call it quits on cilantro for good.

Fun fact: Cilantro is the same as coriander.  Two names, same plant.

From Egg Carton to Pot

Ready to re-pot as of a week ago, to be honest.

Remember my fantastic tutorial on egg carton gardening?  Well, all three types of seeds sprouted.  The cilantro grew fast and furiously, overcrowding and killing off several stalks, despite the fact that I only put one seed per segment.  Two of the three basil seeds sprouted healthy plants, although one took off for absolutely no reason.  Two of the three serrano chilies sprouted, one section sprouting three plants. 

You can tell it's time to re-pot your plants when any of the following occur:

• Your plant reaches a height that is wider than its container
• The roots of your plant attempt to get out of the bottom of the container either by cracking it or finding a hole to crawl out of
• Your plant, after happily growing for a few weeks stops growing abruptly
• Leaves from one plant begin to cover leaves from another plant
• Your plant suddenly wilts over, depressed with his current living situation

All of the above happened for me (sorry, plants) and it was high time to re-pot.

Houston.. we have sprouts!

Whoaaa

Against all odds, the cilantro, basil, AND serrano chilis have sprouted (far right column).  That packet of seeds traveled all over the world, lived on a bookcase for 2 years, then the bottom of a box for 2, and finally... sprouted.  In fact, they've actually sprouted more little shoots than the basil has. 

In other news, I am sad to say RIP to my original basil, parsley, and rosemary plants.  Some sort of bacteria/fungus took them over.  I'm in the middle of moving, so I kind of didn't treat them until it was too late.  Plus side: I've got new basil on the way!

Egg Carton Gardening

 

The Supplies

For a basic egg carton garden you will need:

• 1 egg carton (paper works better than styrofoam)
• potting/starter soil
• seeds
• 1 plastic spoon
• 1 sharpie
• scissors

Before starting, decide how many plants you want to sprout.  I decided on 9: 3 sweet basil, 3 cilantro, 3 serrano chilies.  I've never tried growing any of these plants from seed, so I have no idea how successful I'll be.  I'm betting the cilantro will come out the best, since I've purchased Burpee seeds before.  The basil comes from a "Welcome to PNC Bank!" type goodie bag we found in front of our apartment one day.  The chilies.. well.. the chilies came from a restaurant in London called Wahaca.

Great marketing

It was one of my first trips to London, so I was still in my "everything is British and therefore awesome" phase, and thus collected matchbooks and business cards wherever I went.  I thought that this was a match book- it's most certainly not.  That was about 4 years ago.  I just found the seed book (like a match book, of seeds!) at the bottom of a box in the closet and thought... why not?

Anyway, back to the task at hand!  Cut the egg carton to the right size and label the top of each row with the sharpie.  Growing in a row guarantees that you don't mix up your plants if you're sprouting a few varieties (been there, done that).

Gently spoon the soil into each section of the carton.  Once each section is full, I like to add about a teaspoon of water to pre-moisten the soil.   Then, use the back of the spoon to dig a little spot for 1-2 seeds in each section about 1/4 inch deep.  Use the spoon to cover it back up and voila, you have a mini garden ready to sprout.

Plastic spoons are great for apartment gardening when you don't want to make a huge mess

Be sure to keep the tray in a warm place (sun unnecessary) and water enough to moisten the soil every other day as needed.  Once the seeds sprout, keep them in the sun as much as possible.  The best part about using a egg crate is that, when the seedlings grow too big for their spots in the carton, all you have to do to remove them is scoop the entire ball of soil out with a spoon (I heart spoons) and transplant into a larger pot.

The Final Product (for now)

 So that's how you plant an egg carton garden.  I only put one seed in each section, so we'll see how this turns out.  I'm thinking that all three cilantro will sprout, 2-3 basil, and maybe one sickly chili.  Time will tell!

Happy Apartment Farming!

Christine