My cilantro is always limping along. I grow basil, thai basil, dill, summer savory & chives under four T8s at 5000 and 6500K (I bought them years ago so I'm guessing on the temps.)

The rest are perfectly successful, but cilantro keeps alluding me. It's stunted or pale or miserable. Maybe one or two leaves to pick now and then. No herbs are on heat mats except for germination. I've tried several cultivars.

Any cilantro experts out there who could maybe tell what misconception I might have about treating cilantro as I treat the others, which are productive and reliable?

I have mixed results. Either the cilantro takes off well but I never have enough of it when I need it, or it barely grows. This last batch got a mold? fungus? on it.. .maybe powdery mildew even? White on the leaves. I started some new cilantro last week for both inside and outside so have to see how it goes.

Cilantro doesn't do well indoors unless grown under the absolute best modern grow lights. Not unlike the closely related parsley it's a very very fussy plant when it comes to light: this means you need to give to it the best grow light money can buy, meaning expensive and power hungry.
Check out the pricing and draw of a California Lightworks lamps to see what you need to get cilantro to reliably grow indoors.

I'm glad to know I can give up, after several failed tries at cilantro indoors.
It is very cold hardy, I had it in spring, let it seed, came up in fall, expect it will survive and grow well early spring again before bolting.

ElPolloDiablo said:California Lightworks lamps

Huh; okay, I guess I don't really understand errr...light?

But I've grown weed starts indoors and obviously started tomatoes and peppers and so on under the light situation I've got....so I'm confused. Some stuff blooms. I'm propagating roses and rose of sharon and starting leeks and other stuff....I've even got bonchi pepper plants. The basil and Thai basil think life is great. There's a heat mat which I have alternately used or not used for cilantro. There's a fan.

They are four T8s. I am now not sure about the color value -- I think the high is 6500, which was the best I could get, and the low is 5000. Two of each, four total.

So I'm willing to go full nerd on this: what is so special about cilantro?? Is it definite that it's the light? Could it be the humidity, maybe? W/those delicate little leaves?

(This is upstairs in our house, in my office, I had a thread recently about bananas in the basement...different environment, although now I think maybe the cilantro would be happier down there if I gave it the right light. Everyone's so finicky.)

I've grown cilantro using really cheap grow lights. The second time I think I had a fungus problem. I started a new batch this last week and just pricked out the seedlings. Will see how this batch does in a few weeks.

I've put a ziploc bag over it to retain some moisture/humidity. It is indeed incredibly dry right now.

Will let you folks know if it turns out to have an impact.

My cilantro is dry, likes winter conditions of 50's, wouldn't sprout til soil dropped to 70's last mid Oct. I grow the 'Confetti' variety as my daughter prefers the smaller leaf. Mine is outside. Mine has survived 3 nights of 30* for 6 hrs each of those nights. Basil likes heat. My parsley, leaf celery, rainbow chard, lettuces are all doing great.
Light comment is probably due to the fact that the older a light bulb, the less you get from it-even if you think it looks good, it has dimmed.
Like parsley, (and basils) it needs more root room than you think. Let me see, my humidity avg right now is hmmm, 98% outdoors at 9 pm, but drops during the day to abt 48%, Looks like I am about to have winter hit in the next few days though.

So far the new cilantro is doing really well. Maybe the fan that is on it and other seedlings is helping. Still a long ways to go before harvest.

Mine is neglected, fan is a really great thing. At least mine hasn't bolted yet. 2nd shot shows the stalks at ground level. And as said, I threw seeds outdoors and they sprouted mid Oct.


Glad yours is doing well,

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While I don't disagree that LED full spectrum lights are a great way to grow, I was successful growing cilantro indoor with cheap LED lights. The cilantro grew out of control. The next two times I tried with the same set up, nothing. I think I have some disease or fungus in the grow room as a lot of salad greens are getting spots on the leaves. This batch of cilantro looks much better, BUT it has white spots on the older leaves. The plants themselves look like they're ready to take off in the next week.

The secret to cilantro is temperature. It's likes cool, It grows green below 80* F. once you hit 80F it will go strait to seed. Period. Plant it Early with broccoli, mung bean, sugar snaps, lettuce.. ,expect a good turn out early, then collect seed in early summer

Extra humidity has helped the visible hardships of the plant, it's pretty and green, but it's still not thriving. For those looking at the light aspect - my dill, basil, and rose cuttings from last summer are thriving--so I really don't think it could be that. It wouldn't make sense for basil to be doing great and cilantro to be suffering.

I just killed my 1000th maidenhair fern so I'm adamant that cilantro and I will find a way to partner up. Plus, I love cilantro and it goes to pieces after a day in the crisper, so I'd like to be able to always have it.

Texas freeze took the cilantro, except for 2 small plants hidden under the dead foliage, hoping there is time for them to pull out of it before our heat sets in. Was wishing I had taken a picture of the roots when I reset them in the dirt, but these are going to need depth - like a basil needs deep root room.

I just don't see basil and cilantro in the same seasons, tho I have 5" cuttings taken from my African Blue basil that have survived indoors this winter, is a bit cool for this heat loving basil. It needs to be outdoors by another week.

To store it- rinse if needed and dry really well. Then put in a plastic container- I use one from a processed deli meat that holds about 8 ounces of meat.. Mine's kept well that way.

If you have a sunny window, set a plant stand nearby so the cilantro, parsley, etc. get as much sun as possible. I used to have a stand in front of a south window with grow lights, that I used for herbs and for starting tomatoes, peppers, etc.

I am new to growing herbs but had luck this past fall and winter growing cilantro and parsley in hanging pots in an east-facing window that gets a lot of morning sun. They grew like mad, while the other herbs I tried there (basil, thyme) never took off. The parsley is still going strong, while I had to replant the cilantro about a month ago after it bolted. Will see how the new plant does over the summer when that window heats up more.

Cilantro is a plant that doesn't require long periods of light, mine is bolting now early April, but the 'Confetti' cultivar will still keep going awhile, growth was accelerated by mid March. Once the temps were bouncing tween 40* at night and high 70's in the daytime.
The differences I believe are the basic differences tween north and south. We can be in drouth conditions but the humidity is so high and dew points so very hot that many plants survive by that reason.. I have noticed that cilantro seeds will refuse to sprout and simply wait in the soil until conditions are what that seed wants. I have seen good results of greenhouse succession planting on Youtube vids.