How to grow cilantro in pots? Two methods so you never run out of cilantro all year round

Cilantro can be stir-fried, served cold, added to soups and dumpling filling; it can be used as a seasoning or to garnish dishes, making food more visually appealing while adding nutrition and a fresh fragrance. If you grow a pot of cilantro on your balcony, you can just pinch some off to cook with whenever you need it, which is very convenient.

There are two ways to grow cilantro in pots on a balcony:

1. Sowing seeds

Take the seeds you bought and rub them apart with your hands, because cilantro seeds are round and wrapped in a hard shell; if you do not rub them apart, they sprout more slowly. You can also leave them whole and let them sprout slowly. You can just buy the seeds online on Taobao; usually quite a lot of seeds arrive, and the ones that sprout will be enough to eat.

Soil: It is best to choose leaf mold soil; you can mix coal cinder and dead pine needle leaves into the soil and put it all in the pot. Water the pot soil thoroughly; cilantro seeds like soil with higher moisture, so be sure to water thoroughly.

Sowing: Scatter the seeds evenly in the pot and sprinkle a layer of fine soil on top. Do not sow too densely, because seedlings grown too densely will be too thin and will not grow thick and sturdy. They also should not be too sparse; you need to ensure a certain germination rate. Sow slightly more densely, and after the seedlings emerge you can thin them out and eat the crowded ones first.

Germination: Before the seeds sprout, just place them in a shady spot. If the pot soil dries out, sprinkle a little water, but do not sprinkle too much. Do not apply fertilizer either. After about one or two weeks you will see fine sprouts; after they sprout, you can move them into the sun to sunbathe every day.

2. Growing cilantro from discarded cilantro roots

You can buy cilantro with roots from the supermarket; if the roots still have a little soil on them, they are even easier to keep alive. Cilantro bought from the market with roots can absolutely survive. First pick off the old yellow leaves to cook with, peel the cilantro leaves away from the sides, and keep the cilantro roots and the central cilantro heart for growing cilantro in a pot.

To grow vegetables on a balcony, you can prepare a flower pot and fill it with soil, or you can use a foam box or another vegetable-growing pot to plant cilantro. An oil drum at home can also be used if you punch holes in the bottom. Poke a hole with chopsticks, plant the cilantro into the hole, firm the soil around it, and then water thoroughly. Put it in a cool indoor place for 3 days; once the cilantro has taken hold, you can put it on a sunny balcony to grow.