Greens & herbs
Cilantro & dill
Succession sow; both bolt in heat.
- Outside
- Direct Apr, again mid Aug
- Where
- Raised bed or grow bag
- Sun
- Full sun; light shade slows the bolt
- Water
- Even; dry roots bolt first
- Harvest
- May to Jun, then Sep to Oct
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.