Growing Cilantro Indoors in Winter | Indoor Growing Guide

Everyone likes to have fresh cilantro every day, but is it possible? Well, all I can tell you that you can enjoy fresh cilantro every day around the year, even in cold winters.

Yes, you can grow cilantro indoors during winter, which will provide you with fresh cilantro even in cold weather. The process is hard, but if you do it properly, you will be able to grow cilantro throughout while year.

Below, I explain my methods of how to grow cilantro in a container. So, let’s get to it without wasting any time.

The Process of Cilantro Growing Indoors:

Requirements of Cilantro:

Before deciding to grow cilantro indoors in your home any season, especially in winter, you should know the things cilantro needs the most. Some of the most basic requirements are cilantro plants are listed below.

Light:

Without light, no animal or plant can survive, and thats why cilantro needs a minimum of 6 to 8 hours of light every single day. For indoor during the winter season, you need to make arrangements for artificial light (fluorescent or LED) for proper growth.

Temperature:

Cilantro is a seasonal plant, which means it only thrives at its ideal temperature. Its ideal temperature is 15 to 200C (60 to 700F). You should provide this temperature to your cilantro.  Temperature hot or cooler then this could affect the growth of your plants.

If you can manage these things, then you can grow cilantro indoors during winter.

Selecting Varieties:

Just like any other fruits and vegetables, cilantro has different varieties. Some of the common ones are given below.

We have different types of cilantro varieties in which Calypso, Caribe, Confetti, Cruiser, Culantro, Delfino, Dwarf Lemon, Kanchanaburi, Large Leaf, Leisure, Moroccan, Papalo are common ones.

Also Read: Caring of Cauliflower Plants

Preparing Indoor Garden:

If you have space indoors for a small garden, then it’s easy to build cilantro winter garden, but if you don’t have that, then you should set up a container and prepare it for growing cilantro. Choose a container that is at least 6 to 8 inches deep because the roots of cilantro are up to 6 inches. Make small holes in the container for water drainage and prevent waterlogging.

For soil, you should use proper soil from your garden. Also, make sure that the soil has all the necessary nutrients. Also add some organic or inorganic fertilizer to the soil to improve its fertility. You should also add a layer of small stones, which is really good for drainage.

Planting Cilantro:

If you don’t have the seed of cilantro, then you should get it from a reputable supplier to have a high chance of germination. I used cilantro seeds from my previous indoor growth. Now, for planting, just follow these steps.

• Take the seeds and sow them about 2/4 inches into the soil and also cover them with a little bit of soil.
• Now spray some water on top of it to get moisture, but try not to wash away the soil from it.
• Turn on the light LED or other fluorescent light indirectly.
• The temperature should be around 60 to 70 F; this temperature is considered best for germination.

Providing Proper Lighting:

After planting the seeds, you have to arrange or provide proper light, which could be either sunlight or artificial light. I personally use and also recommend using artificial light instead of natural light because the natural light is low in winter, and also, there is rain and snow for weeks.

Now there are different types and options for indoor lights, so which one to choose?

Led Lights:

The LED lights are efficient, long-lasting, and can be customizable, which means you can increase and decrease its intensity.

Fluorescent lights:

These lights are cheap but effective. These lights are good for indoor planting, but you have to place them very close to the containers.

Incandescent lights:

These lights are also a valuable option but just a lot of gardeners. I also won’t recommend them because of their high output heat.

After choosing your preferred light system, now position it above the plants about 5 to 10 inches, then use a timer to let it on for 12 to 15 hours by mining the natural sunlight.

Here is the video demonstration of growing cilantro indoors in winter

Watering:

After setting up the lights, it’s time to arrange the watering system. You don’t need much watering in your indoor farming during winter because it doesn’t have proper or strong sunlight, which can’t absorb all that water. For watering, you should use a spray, through which you can spray every day or one day after another.

Add fertilizer necessary fertilizer every 4 to 6 weeks, just like I would recommend using organic fertilizer, which has less risk of chemical buildup. But if you can’t arrange or manage organic fertilizer, then you can use any good synthetic fertilizer.

Maintaining Indoor Temperature:

For farming, you need to have an ideal temperature, and that also goes for indoor farming. For indoor cilantro farming, you need to have a temperature between 60 to 70 F. Temperature below or above. This range can cause problems and cilantro.

You can increase and decrease the indoor temperature with the help of a fan (to get cold air) and a heater. Fluctuation in temperature is also not good for indoor farming.

Along with temperature, having an ideal humidity level is also important. The ideal humidity level for indoor cilantro is 40 to 50%. You can use a humidifier or other fans to maintain the proper humidity.

Pruning and harvesting:

When the plants of cilantro start growing, after 3 to 4 weeks, start pruning. The pruning is simple and easy; just remove the young leaves by pinching them off, which encourages the plant into bushier growth.

After that, the cilantro will begin its actual growth. When its outer leaves reach about 5 to 6 inches, start harvesting then. Only harvest the outer leaves, which leave room for the inner leaves.

Conclusion:

Growing cilantro indoors is a pretty hard job, but it will give you fresh and flavourful herbs throughout winter. The process is a little bit complicated, especially in the beginning days; when it starts growing, then it’s fun; trust me, I’m there.

If you have any questions about the above process, then feel free to ask any questions related to that. Other than that, you can check out the main website for more gardening tips and tricks.