help! my cilantro's dying (a bit OT)

[monica67]

Hi there,
I've tried to get help from a garden forum, but they haven't been responsive. So in desperation, I'm turning to you to try to save my cilantro!
I started growing cilantro from seed last month. For the first 3 or 4 weeks it was doing fine. But then it started going downhill. The stems are curled (not wilted but not straight), and while some seedlings are a good 5 inches long, many leaves are withering. They're very leggy and I don't know but it may be that the soil is a mix with fertilizer (Miracle Grow).
I got some advice that said cilantro doens't like too much light, so I moved the planter from my west window that has the best light I can offer to a more northern0 window. It has gotten worse, so today I moved it back.
I also got advice to let it dry out between waterings, so I started to do that too. As I said, it's only gotten worse.
I live in an apartment, so outside is not an option (it's been really hot here in Chicago lately too, so that may kill them faster).
Any suggestions? I really was looking forward to growing my own cilantro so I'd always have it on hand. I use it in so many dishes. (I've gotten so discouraged that I bought some basil seedlings already started from the grocery store, even though I was going to try basil next from seed.)

help my cilantro! :confused:
monica

[Gail]

First off, let me say that I haven't had an herb garden for a couple of years and that I am NOT the greatest gardener. My experience with cilantro was that it tended to do poorly during the hotter summer months, so I'm guessing it was happier with cooler temperatures and more moisture. Keep in mind, though, that I was growing in an outside garden.

Rather than steering you completely wrong, may I suggest you run a search on the topic. I typed in "cilantro AND grow" (obviously without quotation marks) and came up with LOTS of threads. There are quite a few readers here who garden, so you may find your answers in older threads.

Good luck!

[lnodes]

I think it may be the heat. I've had good luck with cilantro in the cooler months, even though it's inside. I know what you mean about using it a lot. I suggest waiting until the fall to start growing it. It may help to ask a local nursery....Good Luck!

[Vanessa]

I started cilantro from seed and finally is taking off but after I moved the pot on the deck so a bigger plant sort of gives it shade. Cilantro does well either early in the season or later. During the extreme hot months not as well. Now near my garden plot a lady has cilantro growing so well. She keeps it near taller plants and has mulch around it I presume to keep it "cool" under the extreme hot southern summer.

[mb]

in the past, my cilantro did the best while i was away for a few days and not caring for it (i brought it inside, not too much sun, and no water). go figure :) as soon as i came back and 'cared for it' again, it died. but maybe it was too hot here, too! good luck. maybe a gardening pro here can provide more insight!

[monica67]

I just want to thank everyone for their advice. It looks like it's just been too hot for cilantro. Even though I have air conditioning, I have had it in direct (western) sunlight, so that's probably what killed it off. It's a little bit consoling to hear others having trouble and that it just may be the time of year. I'll try later in the fall and see what happens.
Now to tend to my basil! (Bought seedlings in the store - cheating a little!). :D

monica