Coriander going downhill

[Marb67]

Well, here I am again with yet another herb problem. I grow healthy coriander from seed, planted out about 2 weeks ago in good soil, plenty of sun and the plants are now thin and wispy with mottled foliage. This mottling happens to my mint, lemon balm, sage and flat leaf parsley every year without fail.

Can anyone identify the problem ? I used a flatbed scanner as it shows up great detail.

[Snoop Puss]

Hi Marb, that looks like some kind of insect damage to me. Try spraying with a soapy water solution, but not just the damaged leaves, all around. Good luck.

[Marb67]

Hi Marb, that looks like some kind of insect damage to me. Try spraying with a soapy water solution, but not just the damaged leaves, all around. Good luck.

Yes its the @#&#£@ thrips again. They do SO MUCH damage to just about everything in my garden every year its soul destroying and there is NO WAY to get rid of them

[ameno]

Maybe try going coriander indoors? I have to grow my basil indoors, as when I try to grow it outdoors it gets eaten by caterpillars of some sort.
Alternatively, bother coriander and parsley are actually pretty winter-hardy, so you could make a late sowing in July or August and overwinter it under fleece, picking occasionally through the winter and then more in the spring when it starts growing again. There's shouldn't be any thrips about during the winter and early spring.

[Mr Bones]

Best to sow coriander early spring or autumn Marb, it never seems to do very well in summer (well not for me anyway). On March 2nd we sown a 5m x 1m bed full of self saved seed, it's cropped really well and was only pulled up this week because it had all finally bolted.

[Marb67]

Oh yes, I forgot to say mine also bolted but cut the tops off to encourage more leaf. So far it's rubbish. Again, thrips ruin everything for me. They are the spawn of satan.

[Snoop Puss]

You have to resow coriander every few weeks in my experience. The plants start to flower very quickly, especially in the heat of summer, and even if you clip them right back, they're never the same. It's a bit like lettuce: a little and often.

[Marb67]

Well, I just can't grow coriander as this sowing has started to take a turn for the worst. Thin, wispy stems keeling over 😞