Cilantro

Calypso cilantro is currently growing in my house, but after 3+ months of reliable weekly harvests, the plants are starting to bolt (sending up a flower stalk), so they are probably nearing the end of their useful life. I will start up some new plants at this time.

Mar 20, 2016 = Day 0. Plants started from seed (Park Seed). Seeds sowed in 1.5-inch rockwool cube in 2-inch net-pot. Moistened with dilute fertilizer solution: 1.2 mL Dyna-Gro Liquid Grow, 0.8 mL pH Down per gallon of tap water. N-P-K (in ppm): 22-12-13. pH = 6.0.

Mar 25 = Day 5. Plant germinated, placed directly under a fluorescent light (2 ft. T8 bulb, 17W, 6500k) for 16 hours per day.

IMG_20160329_134914186 (1) — Mar 29 = Day 9

Mar 31 = Day 11. In 1 of the net-pots, the plants are too leggy and unable to stand up. I will re-start that net-pot with fresh seeds.

Apr 7 = Day 18. Installed plants into 5-gallon bucket. Hydroponic solution composed of 5 gal (18.9 L) tap water, 10 g MasterBlend 4-18-38, 10 g calcium nitrate, 5 g magnesium sulfate, 1 mL Dyna-Gro Pro-TeKt, 5 mL pH Down. N-P-K (in ppm): 103-41-168. pH = 6.0. Plants moved to indoor grow room, receiving 9 hours LED grow light per day, plus 3 hours sunlight per day.

IMG_20160419_165914931 (1) — Apr 19 = Day 30

IMG_20160502_111037384 (1) — May 2 = Day 43

May 18 = Day 59. Began harvesting lower leaves.

IMG_20160526_142643836 (1) — May 26 = Day 67

IMG_20160616_122104474 (1) — Jun 16 = Day 88

IMG_20160706_125727880 (1) — Jul 6 = Day 108

Jul 11 = Day 113. Harvested all remaining leaves. Total fluid used = 3.5 gallons (1.2 gallons per plant). Final pH of fluid = 5.0.

Calypso cilantro is a typical variety of cilantro (also known as coriander). This variety is supposed to be very heat tolerant. Growing 3 plants in a 5-gallon bucket.

Nov 8, 2015 = Day 0. Plants started from seed (Park Seed). Moistened with dilute fertilizer: Dyna-Gro Liquid GROW 7-9-5, diluted 1 mL (1/5 tsp) per gallon of tap water. N-P-K (in ppm): 18-10-11. pH = 7.0.

Nov 13 = Day 5. Seeds germinated. Transferred to grow room, receiving 3 hours sunlight + 5 hours LED grow-light per day.

Nov 26 = Day 18. Plants installed in 5-gallon bucket. Hydroponic solution composed of 5 gal tap water, 10 g MasterBlend 4-18-38, 10 g calcium nitrate, 5 g magnesium sulfate, 1 mL Dyna-Gro Pro-TeKt, 4 mL pH Down. N-P-K (in ppm): 103-41-168. pH = 6.5.

IMG_20151210_204737411_HDR — Dec 10 = Day 30

These plants are looking great, I haven’t done any thinning yet, so every plant that germinated is still growing (2-5 plants per net-pot). I may need to thin some plants out soon.

IMG_20151218_135715938 — Dec 18 = Day 38

IMG_20151228_115637807 — Dec 28 = Day 48

Jan 3 = Day 54. Plants thinned down to just 1 plant per net-pot. I should have done this thinning long ago, because the leaves had become quite interwoven, requiring lots of tedious work to separate them.

IMG_20160108_200429513_HDR — Jan 8 = Day 59

I have been harvesting leaves off these plants every week or so, and they just keep on producing more. It’s great to always have fresh cilantro on hand.

IMG_20160120_131959623 — Jan 20 = Day 71

Feb 24 = Day 106. Still harvesting lower leaves every week. Plants look great, still going strong. Container is starting to get light, so I added 0.5 gallons of fresh hydroponic fluid.