Fresh coriander

Chris120A

I bought some fresh coriander and basil from Asda about 3 days ago, still in the pots. The instructions say to water them every day on the roots, not the leaves, and to keep it in a warm place near sunlight. While the basil is fine, the coriander wilted straight away, and has not come back to life

The coriander is still usable, but the stems are droopy, and a few leaves on the very ends have started to go brown. Where am I going wrong?

competitionscafe

Does that with me too - don't know why...

Now I usually buy fresh coriander from the local corner shop - £1 for a huge (and I mean huge!) bunch (compared to 80p in Sainsburys for a measly bunch [maybe a quarter of the quantity] in a plastic pouch or even more £ for the 'growing' plants, which as you point out just die after a few days! (corner shop keeps theirs tied in bunches with the bases in a tub of water) Try your local corner shop...

Anne_Marie_2

Not sure where you might be going wrong. Could be not enough, or too much water. Too much, or too little sun - plants can be a nightmare to grow. I find basil a total pain to grow in my almost north facing windowsill. Some times it has been okay - last 2 years had great success, however, we did have really poor summers here. I ALWAYS thought that the sun would let my basil grow- well, it might do, but my latest plants not doing well at all - not even a wee shoot yet........hmmm

wigginsmum

My basil and coriander are doing fine in the garden on a west-facing raised shelf so they only get direct sunlight in late afternoon ... I've never had any luck with shop-bought plants though, so I always grow mine from seed (and buy big bunches for immediate use from the Turkish supermarket near me). Sowed both types about a month ago.

rkh001

Mine does exactly the same. So now I buy a couple of big bunches from an Indian shop, wash, dry with a tea-towel, chop and freeze. Then it's there every time I need it.

Mishy

Why don't you by it fresh?
Cut the leaves and put them in an ice cube tray with some water.
Then put them in the freezer.
That you can use as much as you like. Therefore making it last longer.

Hope this is of some use to you.

newleaf

The herbs you can buy in pots at the supermarket are not really intended for growing on, they are just meant to be fresher when you cut and use them. Coriander runs to seed very quickly when you grow it yourself too, so the best plan is to sow it little and often and cut and use it up quickly. (Unless you want the seeds of course).

**purpleprincess**

When I grew coriander it did this too! I might do the coriander in the freezer thing in future.

Swan_2

I agree with the others about the shop-bought growing herbs, they're no good for growing on

even if you separated the individual plants & potted them up by themselves, they'd never amount to much because they've been sown too closely together & are too leggy & floppy to grow into sturdy specimins

also agree it's best to grow parsley & basil from seed yourself, & buy corainder by the bunch from an Asian (or similar) shop

if you're going to be chopping & freezing any of them ... after chopping (I do it in a jug or mug with scissors) just tip them straight into a lidded tub, give it a shake every hour for the first 2-3 hours of freezing & you'll have free-flow herbs ready to spoon out whenever you want them

bigmuffins

Hi
Coriander is easy to grow (but slugs/snails love it so best indoors or use pellets carefully) just need to lightly crush the whole dried seeds (cheapest in indian grocers/area) so they split in two - I put them in a bag and lightly roll with rolling pin. Then sow seeds and keep well watered.

Can freeze chopped coriander no problem or can also use the green seeds if runs to seed - just crush in mortar and pestle and use in place of fresh or dried crushed/ground coriander. Still get lots of coriander taste and fragrance.

Cheaper to use whole dried seeds from grocers than specialist seed packets - only get a measly amount and the dried seeds for cooking are usually excellent - thats what we use all the time.

Little and often is the best bet that way you can have some all year round.

HTH
Cheers