How to Grow Coriander at Home in India, Sowing to Cutting (2026)

Last updated: 30 September 2026

> Quick Answer: To grow coriander at home, split the seeds, sow them 1 cm deep in the first week of October, and give the pot full sun. Mix 25 to 30 g of mustard cake into each pot beforehand. Cut at 20 to 25 cm and a pot gives three or four cuttings.

Coriander is a cool-season crop, and most people sow it at the wrong time. Punjab Agricultural University's vegetable package of practices names the first week of October as the best sowing for green leaves in the North Indian plains, and says sowing can continue to the end of December. Sow it in May and it runs to seed before you get a single decent bunch.

The second mistake is the seed itself. What sells as dhaniya is a round husk holding two seeds, and PAU is blunt about it: unrubbed capsules give very poor germination. Split them first and the trough fills in. Sow them whole and you get a patchy line of seedlings, plus a theory about bad soil.

Which coriander seeds to sow, and why split them first?

Any fresh, whole coriander seed will grow, including kitchen dhaniya that has not been roasted. Rub each round husk gently so it breaks into two halves; PAU advises breaking capsules into 2 to 4 parts, because whole ones germinate poorly. Soaking the split seed overnight is optional but speeds things up.

Named varieties are bred to hold off flowering. PAU's Punjab Sugandh, for instance, is late in bolting and gives four cuttings of green leaves. Kitchen seed is a lottery on that score. Old seed may not come up at all, so buy a fresh packet if the first sowing fails.

How deep, how dense and how much sun does coriander need?

About 1 cm deep, thickly enough that seedlings stand 3 to 5 cm apart, in a pot at least 6 inches deep, with five to six hours of direct sun. Coriander has a taproot and hates being moved. Sow it where it will grow, not in a nursery tray.

Oregon State University Extension advises covering the seed with half an inch of soil and notes that it germinates at soil temperatures of 55 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit, roughly 13 to 20 Celsius, which is why October works and June does not. In October weather, expect shoots in one to two weeks.

For the mix, work 25 to 30 g of mustard cake and 25 g of neem seed powder into an 8 to 10 inch pot a week before sowing, so the cake has started breaking down by the time roots reach it. Keep the mix light: garden soil, compost and a little sand or cocopeat.

How do you feed coriander after the first cut?

With a weak liquid cake feed, poured on straight after the first and second cuttings. That mirrors PAU's field advice, which puts a third of the crop's nitrogen in at sowing and splits the rest between the first and second cuttings. Nitrogen is what regrows leaf, and a freshly cut plant has just lost most of its own.

Soak 25 g of mustard cake in a litre of water for three or four days, stir, strain, then dilute with an equal amount of water and give an 8 to 10 inch pot about half a litre. That is the ratio the Indraprastha Horticulture Society uses for roses, made gentler for a small herb. TNAU notes that solid oil cake takes 7 to 10 days to feed a plant, so the soaked form reaches the roots of a fast crop sooner.

The cake is sarso khali, the residue left after oil pressing. The SatRas plant care range carries it with neem seed powder and wood ash, and its mustard oil cake powder sells at ₹229 for 900 g. The sowing dose, two liquid feeds and the neem add up to about 105 g, or roughly ₹27 a pot for the whole season.

When should coriander be cut so it regrows?

Cut when the plants reach 20 to 25 cm, taking the outer stems about 5 cm above the soil and leaving the centre to regrow. PAU harvests green coriander at that height and takes three to four cuttings from one sowing. In a pot, the first cut usually comes around 40 days after sowing.

Cut the whole pot rather than picking a few leaves a day. A clean cut brings a flush of new growth; constant picking leaves a thin, leggy plant. Sow a new pot every two to three weeks, as Oregon State suggests with small successive batches, and one of them is always ready.

Why do coriander seedlings collapse, and what helps?

Seedlings that fall over at soil level, with a pinched, dark stem, have damping-off, a rot of young stems caused by soil fungi and water moulds. It follows wet, crowded, poorly drained pots. The fix is a drier mix, thinner sowing and more air. More feed won't help.

Penn State Extension says damping-off is most severe under excessive soil moisture and high humidity, and worse in crowded seedbeds with poor air circulation. It advises against overwatering and overseeding. Water coriander only when the surface is dry, and pull out collapsed seedlings at once.

Neem seed powder, or neem khali, in the mix is soil hygiene, part of keeping a pot clean rather than a treatment; the US National Research Council's neem monograph describes neem cake in soil protecting roots from nematodes and white ants. Once damping-off starts, only drier conditions stop it.

Why does coriander bolt or turn yellow?

It bolts because of heat and lengthening days: once the weather warms in March, plants send up a flower stalk and the leaves turn feathery and sparse. Yellowing is usually overwatering in cool weather or a mix that has run out of nitrogen after two or three cuttings.

Oregon State notes that temperature and day length both drive flowering and that in warm weather the plant completes its life cycle faster. Nothing stops that in April. You can only delay it: sow in October, use a slow-bolting variety, and keep cutting. In South and coastal India, where winter is mild, sow in the cooler months and expect a shorter season.

What should you avoid when growing coriander in pots?

Avoid summer sowing, whole unsplit seed, transplanting seedlings and heavy watering. Also avoid feeding a pot that is actually waterlogged. Each of these produces the same thin, yellow, patchy pot, which is why coriander has a reputation for being difficult.

• Whole seed. Split it or expect poor germination.
• Transplanting. The taproot sulks and the plant bolts early.
• Crowding and overwatering. The two conditions damping-off needs.
• Fresh cake at sowing. Mix it in a week ahead, not on the seed.

For per-pot rates on other plants, see how much neem khali and sarso khali a pot needs, and for how herbs compare with heavier feeders, which fertiliser each plant actually needs.

Frequently asked questions

How many days does coriander take to grow?

About 40 days from sowing to the first cut in October weather, with shoots appearing in one to two weeks. After that, regrowth takes roughly three weeks between cuttings. Seed takes much longer: a crop left to flower is ready for seed harvest only in April on the North Indian plains.

Can I grow coriander from kitchen dhaniya seeds?

Yes, if the seed is whole, fresh and unroasted. Rub each husk so it splits into halves before sowing, because whole husks germinate poorly. Kitchen seed is not selected for slow bolting, so it may flower sooner than a named garden variety, and seed that has sat in the kitchen for a year may not sprout.

Can coriander grow indoors on a windowsill?

Only on a very bright one. Coriander needs five to six hours of direct sun, and behind glass it grows pale, thin and floppy. A south-facing window can carry a small pot through winter, but a balcony or terrace gives far better bunches. Rotate an indoor pot every few days so it grows upright.

Can I grow coriander in summer?

Not well on the North Indian plains. Heat and long days push it straight to flower, often within weeks, before it makes many leaves. In summer, grow it in partial shade and harvest young, or wait for October. Hill gardens and mild coastal cities have more room for summer sowing.

How do I store fresh coriander after cutting?

Stand the stems in a glass of water in the fridge, loosely covered with a plastic bag, and change the water every two days; it keeps for about a week. Wrapped dry in a paper towel inside a box works almost as well. Wash it just before use, not before storing.

Is coriander the same plant as cilantro?

Yes. Cilantro is the American name for the fresh leaves of the same plant, Coriandrum sativum, and coriander is used for both leaf and seed in India and Britain. Growing advice written about cilantro applies directly, though American sowing dates need shifting to the Indian cool season.