Greens & herbs
Cilantro & dill
Succession sow; both bolt in heat.
- Outside
- Direct Apr, again mid Aug
- Where
- Raised bed or in ground
- Sun
- Full sun; light shade slows the bolt
- Water
- Every few days; dry roots trigger bolt
- Harvest
- May to Jun, then Sep to Oct
Care
- Water
- Keep both evenly damp with the finger test; these are thirsty herbs, not dry-side ones, and small fast crops besides, so they want steady even moisture. Letting the roots run dry is a fast ticket to bolt, the same as a hot spell, so a little afternoon shade buys time in early summer.
- Sow
- Sow both in place, never in cells, since a disturbed cilantro root bolts on the spot. A quarter to half inch deep, sown thick, in April and again mid August. Dill takes the same shallow, crowded rows.
- Feed
- Both are light feeders grown fast and cut young, so a little compost or castings in the soil at sowing is plenty. No steady liquid program is needed; rich feeding just rushes them toward flowering.
- Ready
- Gather whole fistfuls at the base once a stand fills in. If they flower before you are done, run with it: dill heads flavor a pickle crock, and the dried seed of cilantro comes back as coriander.
- Trouble
- The real trouble for both is bolting the moment heat and dry roots gang up, which is why the spring and fall sowings matter. Little else bothers them; the black swallowtail caterpillars that turn up are a bonus, so leave them be.
In a bag?
- Yes
- Up to a 3–5 gal bag.
- Water
- A bag dries faster than a bed, so water more often to keep it evenly damp, even daily in warm weather. A quick 15 to 20 sec on the shower dial.
- Sow
- Sow both straight into a 3 to 5 gallon bag and cut whole handfuls; cilantro resents transplanting, so never start it in cells to move over.
Cilantro and dill run on the same clock: sown in April, sown again in August, cut in the cool months, gone to seed in between. Fighting the bolt is pointless; scheduling around it works fine.
Growing
Direct sow both, since cilantro answers transplanting with an immediate flower stalk; a short row of each in April and a second in mid August covers May, June, September, and October cutting. Sow thick and cut whole handfuls at the soil line. When heat wins anyway, let it: dill flowers head for the pickle jar, and cilantro seed dried on the plant is a coriander harvest nobody had to plan. Even moisture stretches the stand; let the roots go dry and both answer with flower stalks.
Varieties
Calypso is the slowest-bolting cilantro going; Bouquet dill flowers early for pickling heads, while Fernleaf holds longer when leaves are the point.
In the kitchen
Cilantro belongs to salsa season and dill to the cucumber jars, which makes both of them staff rather than guests.