Culantro blog post

Culantro (Puerto Rican Cilantro): How to Grow and When to Plant this Hot Weather Cilantro Alternative in Your Backyard or Patio Garden!

Culantro is a herb typically grown in tropical areas as a replacement for cilantro. Cilantro is one of our favorite herbs to use in cooking, but our growing season here in Oklahoma makes it difficult to grow because of how hot it gets. Culantro is a great alternative to cilantro that flourishes in heat and can handle as much sun as you give it. It has a bit more of a kick than traditional cilantro, but we are usually using it in Mexican dishes so we enjoy this extra kick! Culantro does not typically transplant well so it is best to do them from seed.
Culantro is a herb typically grown in tropical areas as a replacement for cilantro. Cilantro is one of our favorite herbs to use in cooking, but our growing season here in Oklahoma makes it difficult to grow because of how hot it gets. Culantro is a great alternative to cilantro that flourishes in heat and can handle as much sun as you give it. It has a bit more of a kick than traditional cilantro, but we are usually using it in Mexican dishes so we enjoy this extra kick! Culantro does not typically transplant well so it is best to do them from seed.

How to Grow:

Culantro is a warm season crop that can be planted after your last spring frost throughout the summer. You can see specific dates for your location using our FREE iOS, Android, and Universal Web App.

Culantro is planted 1 per square, in part shade. Take care to notice what plants are around the area as well, see the companion plant section below. Keep your culantro well watered.

Companion Plants:

Companion planting is a vital part of organic gardening. Companion plants assist in the growth of others by attracting beneficial insects, repelling pests, or providing nutrients, shade, or support. There are also plants that do not like being next to each other. Some plants get too tall and can provide too much shade for your plant. Sometimes certain plants attract the same pests, so it is important to try and separate these. Culantro is a great companion plant and can help a lot of other plants out by detering certain pests, including aphids.

         GoodBad
Banana PeppersMarjoramDill
Beans (Bush & Pole)Mint 
Bell PeppersOregano 
Cilantro/CorianderSweet Peppers 
Hot PeppersTarragon 
MarigoldsTomatoes (Bush & Vine) 

 See companion plants for 100+ foods in our FREE iOS, Android, and Universal Web app!

Pests:

Pests can be one of the most difficult challenges you face in the garden. We strive to grow food without the use of pesticide and luckily there are natural solutions for most of these nasty pests! The pests listed below are common ones for culantro:

Learn more about how to manage pests and attract beneficial insects in our FREE iOS, Android, and Universal Web App!

Harvesting:

You can begin to harvest culantro around 10 weeks. You can begin to harvest leaves once the plant is established. Cut outer leaves first.

Cooking & Eating!

Cilantro is one of our go-to herbs in the kitchen and we use culantro in a similar way! We use this commonly in salads, scrambled eggs, beans, stir-fries, and basically any Mexican or Asian dish! Preserve by simply putting chopped up culantro into an ice cube tray with olive oil into the freezer.

Learn more about growing over 100 different foods, including how to manage various pests in our FREE iOS, Android, or new Universal Web App!

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