growing herbs?

A question about : growing herbs?

If I were to plant some coriander seeds (that you can buy whole as a spice), would they grow into a coriander plant? ???

Best answers:

• Here is the Gardeners World info on coriander. It says sow (so it must grow from seeds) out in March but I'd bung 2 or 3 seeds in a little pot on your kitchen windowsil now. You can always plant it out into the garden later (and, if it grows you don't have to go outside in the rain when you want to use some).
  I'm going to try this with a couple of cloves of garlic. Apparently they like the cold so I'm going to but them in a pot outside and cover it so it thinks it's dark and wintery and see what happens.
  Thanks for this, it's making me wonder what else I've got in the cupboard I can plant and see what happens.
• Hi, I grow coriander from seed every year. To start with buy a gardening packet (cause I think the ones bought as a spice from supermarkets may have some sort of preserve on the shell.) Space a few seeds out in a pot as said before and put on your window if you do this every week you will have coriander growing at different stages all season. You can plant out in spring. As soon as they are ready pick the leaves to eat or freeze them, leave the flowers till they have seeded pick the seeds and then you can either use those to grind for curries or put in a dark place for next year to use to grow more plants. I have a yearly stock of seeds, in fact you can grow it all year round on your windowsill. Hope this helps
  Caroline
• Thanks!
  I don't have a garden though so it'll be staying in a pot!
  I have some chilli seeds Nandos gave me too, maybe I'll try those
  My dad claims that years ago he threw away a packet of coriander seed spices in the garden and it grew a load of coriander in the grass :
• You've nothing to lose by trying! If I am a bit dubious about whether seeds are going to grow I test a few by folding them in a few thicknesses of damp kitchen paper and keeping them somewhere warm and dark for a few days (but you have to remember to keep checking that it's still damp...). You can keep unfolding the paper and checking to see if there is any sign of life. It saves the trouble of sowing in pots or trays only to find that nothing happens.
• Coriander is easy to grow from gardening seeds, can't comment on seeds for cooking, but have successfully grown from "home grown" seeds too.
  If you only want to use the leaves, it will be fine in a pot, but if you want seeds, I would suggest a tub, as it grows to about 2 ft. or so.
  For a continuous supply of leaves, sow seed(s) every 2-3 weeks.
• I have grown coriander from cooking seeds but it came all spindly and went to flower really quickly.
  I suspect that it is a strand meant to do this so it can produce more seeds (rather than leaves). I think it depends what you want it for, if for leaves you can buy the one that is special to produce leaves, or if you want seeds the other one.
  Not sure what I am talking about really....
  But I have also grown coriander from last year's plant seeds, when they flower just put a stocking top on the flower so that when it goes to seed all the seeds fall into the stocking and not on the ground (do the same with leeks and onions seeds!)
  Ciao
  Caterina
• It's worth looking at Netto in the coming weeks.
  I buy most of my herb, veg, salad and flower seeds from them.
  Last year they were 19p a packet.
• I want to grow some herbs. I don't have a garden, so they would sit on my kitchen window sill. My ideal combination would be;
  Basil
  Corriander
  Chives
  Am I better to buy soil, a couple of pots and seeds or is it just as worthwhile for my to spend 79p on the supermarket tubs?
  Thanks
• I have basil, parsley and thyme on my windowsil. I have bought the plants from the supermarket and they always seem to die on me. I am currently experimenting with seeds - atleast then I can just plant some more seeds if they die!
• Aldi have compost on offer this week, unfortunatly you missed the aldi and netto seeds but www.simpsonsseeds is quite cheap.
  I think supermarket ones only last a bit and wouldn't really be a good choice for starting a herb garden. Go with seeds and keep planting new ones every few months so you have a steady supply.
• Wilkos had a 3 for 2 offer on seeds a couple of weeks ago, not sure if it's still on. Might be worth a look.
• The supermarket ones can be ok - I’ve had thyme, chives and basil growing for a good few months now on my kitchen windowsill. You do need to feed them though – the compost is not very good quality. I don’t think supermarket flat-leaf parsley or coriander are good at all. As soon as you take them out of their plastic wrappers they wilt and never recover properly – I would grow these from seed.
  I also grow baby cut-and-grow-again spinach and rocket on my windowsill – it’s nice to pull a few leaves off to make a salad.
  I planted 5 cloves from a bulb of value garlic a couple of weeks back and these are growing well. In a month or two I should have 5 ‘free’ garlic bulbs.
• pennywise - thanks for your tips.
  what should I feed the supermarket herb tubs with?
  is cut and grow again baby spinach different from normal baby spinach?
  do I have to do anything special to the cloves of garlic before planting them?
  not ever gardened before!
  r.mac
• Pennywise I've got some rocket seeds too and was planning on planting outside when I had some space. It'd be easier to do inside so does it still grow just as well? How many plants do you reckon I'll need for two people? I don't want to wait for it to grow and then use it all up in a week leaving me with nothing, or end up with much more than I could ever eat!
  I've also been thinking of doing garlic, is this an indoor or outdoor thing and how much room would it need? Would it be ok in a pot or should I plant it with my radishes. I think I'd end up being so nosey I'd be digging it up each week to see how much it'd grown. Must learn patience.
• Garlic: - easy peasy - great for kids to grow.
  how much room does it need?
  A pot/part of your garden a bit bigger in diameter than a bulb of garlic - would be fine near your radishes.
  How to plant
  Fill pot with compost, poke your finger/a stick in the middle of the pot about twice the depth of a clove, pull a clove off a bulb of garlic, stick it in the hole and cover it over. That's it. (for outdoors garlic do the same but in the ground)
  Within a few days it will sprout (depending on how fresh it is) and eventually will look like a big chive/small onion plant. Just keep the soil/compost moist and don't let it dry out - you want a nice juicy garlic bulb not a shrivelled dry one.
  The original clove may shrivel a bit (if you are nosey and can't wait to see what is going on under the soil) but the plant will start to grow its own bulb. I can't really say how long this will take as it depends on the conditions you keep it in - temperature/light/water/indoors/outdoors etc but when the leaves start to die down it is ready (unless they are dying because you forgot to water it!).
  Then just empty out the pot/lift it out of the soil. Then take one of the cloves off and plant it - this way you may never need to buy garlic again – very money saving.
  You can plant them outside during spring/summer but they will grow indoors on a sunny windowsill all year round (best in your kitchen though as the leaves smell a little garlicy if disturbed).
• I have about 3 rocket plants in a 10cm tub which makes about one smallish salad a fortnight for two people (not enough – I need to grow more). The plants do grow very well on my windowsill and are trailing over the edge of the pot and has quite a few leaves on it. You just pick them off evenly from over the plant and it will sprout new leaves.
  I grow it indoors on my windowsill because outdoors it will only grow in summer and inside it will grow all year.
  I think the spinach variety I grew was ‘perpetual spinach beet’. You just pull of the outside leaves when they are big enough for you and new leaves will keep coming up. Pick the leaves while they are small and they are great in salads.
  For plant feed just use one suitable for vegetables, which one depends on whether you want an organic one/how much you want to spend - I can't remember which one I use.
• thanks for the step-by-step instructions. I am going to do this over the course of the week.
  good luck fazer - I also have no patience so will have to try very hard!!!