Saturday, December 11, 2010

Kitaran hidup ketumbar (Coriander life cycle)

Coriander is known as Cilantro in America and other known names are Chinese Parsley (Malay Language~ketumbar). The part that is used from this plant are leaves and fruits (seeds). Coriander are umbellifers which also include celery, carrot, parsnip and parsley. It is not ideal to plant coriander with other umbellifers closely together because they need many root space alone. Coriander thrive in mild temperature about twentish degree Celcius. In Adelaide, end of summer and autumn is the best time to start sowing coriander. Germination rate is the best this time and coriander grows well in Adelaide winter. When spring comes it will start to flower. I found that coriander is sensitive to long day-length here in Adelaide as it will bolt easily. Although early spring provide good germination of coriander seedlings, it will bolt quickly even pruning it many times. Coriander seedlings just popped up.early autumn 2010 (36)

First true leaves of coriander look similar like other umbellifers at this stage like celery and carrots.cora

Coriander ready for transplanting and the seed coat still attached. As we can see that at this stage coriander already has many roots so be careful when you prick them for transplanting.DSC08385

Bolting coriander where the upper part of the plant leaves has grown looking like carrot leaves. Coriander can be grown in pots but it won’t grow as tall as the one on the ground.DSC08415

Coriander can grow more than 5 feet tall.

spring garden

Coriander producing many white flowers.DSC00022

Close up look of coriander dainty pretty white flowers.DSC09356

Coriander forming fruits.DSC09052

Many fruits of coriander. When the fruits are ready, it will produce very strong smell.

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Drying the coriander plants to collect seeds later.

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Coriander seeds ready to be collected.

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Coriander seeds that can use for cooking and planting.

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We still have many dried seeds of coriander plants to collect. I need more assistants helping me out collecting coriander seeds before they all drop to the floor.

Have a nice weekend.

17 comments:

cikmanggis said...

Salam.Semalam pertama kali Cm semai biji ketumbar.Harap harap ianya akan tumbuh.Sangat suka blog kebun malay -kadazan girls:)

Mr. H. said...

Very nice, I really enjoy seeing how you process your seeds. We never have very much luck growing coriander but you have inspired me to give it another try.:)

p3chandan said...

Coriander has pretty white flowers, never seen them before, always use the leaves! Its a must grow plant next year for me because so far I fail everytime I grow from the stumps. I dont use much coriander seeds for my cooking, I mean I always use the spices already packed from the supermarket..

kitchen flavours said...

Your corianders are very lush and so big! You are very good at growing them. Love the smell of this plant. Will have to sow the seeds that you send soon. I use the leaves for garnishing and blend in other spices for curries. I really love this plant!

One said...

Your coriander looks very healthy like most of your other plants. I think they may be suitable to be used as fillers for bouquets. I have already been growing them for a few weeks before you sent me the seeds. They are still tiny. Hope mine will turn out as pretty as yours.

miruku said...

Interesting. I have a few coriander plants in the raised bed but they don't grow that tall as yours, also i haven't seen them flower after so many months. Always love to see how you collect the seeds, as i always don't know which part of the veggie will seed.

Sue Garrett said...

AS we grow coriander for the leaves rather than seeds I've found it bolts just too quickly - I have found a variety that is supposes to last longer before flowering so I'll be trying that one.

Makarimi Abdullah said...

Great post and informative. I'll be trying to plant this ketumbar. Thanks for sharing.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

CikManggis~ Salam, ketumbar yang baru disemai itu rasanya pasti akan tumbuh dgn baik dan digunakan dgn sebaiknya di dapur anda.

Mr. H~ After reading your frost-hardy parsley and other umbellifers growing in your place. I wonder too wether coriander also can be proven frost-hardy.

p3chandan~ Maybe you can try growing them from seeds. Young coriander seedlings grown from seeds give more flavour.

Kitchen flavour~ I like to use coriander leaves as garnishing as well. Boost the apetite:).

ONE~ I agree with you that it will add more beauty in a bouquet. My spring flower pictures has a lot of coriander flowers in the background.

Milka ~ As day and night through the year is almost the same in Malaysia, I don't think you have problem with quick bolting as we do here.

Sue~ Do share some info about the one variety that can last longer, I would like to try growing them in spring. As the one I am growing is very sensitive to heat and long day-length.

Orchid de dangau~ Hope you give it a try. Coriander can grow in part shade.

Anonymous said...

This is a very useful post for me. I was always wondering why my coriander bolted so early in the spring. I want to try fall planting but it's too late now. I also has no luck in a pot. Do you do something else with the fruit besides dry it and collect seeds? Carolyn

JGH said...

amazing! I've never seen coriander that tall before- it's actually very pretty. I sow it continuously all summer to prevent bolting - never let it go long enough to see the fruit - now I know what to look for to find the seed!

Sue Garrett said...

Hi again Diana
The coriander that I ma ordering is called Leisure - it claims to be slower to bolt but we will have to see.

I'm ordering form here where there is a bit more information

Malar said...

I just bought a packet of coriander seeds! thanks for your post! it's very helpful!
I can help you to harvest the seeds if you would exchange with your juicy carrot! hahahaha...

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Carolyn ~ I used the seeds like spice sometimes.Grind the seeds to powder and use it for marinade. When I make satay, I usually use some coriander powder for marinating the chicken and beef cubes.

JGH~Coriander flowers mix nicely with spring flowers.

Sue~ I wonder how many seeds have you decide to get browsing through catalogue now? I would like to see this 'leisure" coriander flower will be white or pink? Thanks for the info.

Malar~That bowl from the last picture is so full already and we still have more to collect. I don't mind an extra hand. LOL.

Roslyn said...

Thank you for your informative post. I love coriander. I wish it wouldn't bolt so quickly in summer but it self-seeds in my garden so we usually have leaves some to use. You have inspired me to hang and dry the seeds as well.

fer said...

Back at my country cilantro is very common in the kitchen, but I had never had any until now. I didn't know it could grow that big.

Malay-Kadazan girl said...

Missy~ I hope we will have some self-seeds coriander like yours.

Fer~ I was surprised as well how big it grown this year. Last year the one I left to blot was not even half as tall as this year.