Recommendation - Vietnamese Corriander

[Storming Norman]

Hi All,

I have just got to recommend Vietnamese Coriander to you all.

I bought a tiny pot of this from the local garden centre as a gamble last summer - £1.50. It grew substantially and is still growing slowly in my cold greenhouse. I had to hack it back several times this summer to keep it manageable. It is still 3 foot high even now.

This tropical plant is much more borderline hardy that suggested. Last week it got frosted in the greenhouse, looked dreadful but survived, and is back in eating form already.

I have put it in slivers in soups - pumpkin and kale soup works well. I use it as a fresh herb in salads - it is fantastically tasty raw, and becomes more spicy like mild chili when cooked. Of course the Vietnamese use it in noodles and their own crunchy and cooked salads.

Unfortunately it won't dry successfully. I am trying to make an oil from it presently like a basil infusion - perhaps this might work?

If you have space and like a basil/mild chili flavour then it might be worth squeezing one in; I am sure you won't regret it.

[BrideXIII]

well if i can get some i will definately try it, cos i cant seem to grow the other kind at all, it hates me.

[RedThorn]

well if i can get some i will definately try it, cos i cant seem to grow the other kind at all, it hates me.

*has a quiet word with the plants to cross that thin line between love and hate for Bride *

Wilts and dies or goes to seed?

I have a simular problem .... will keep an eye out for it. Thanks for the tip


just noticed that I've upgraded to seedling

[BrideXIII]

*has a quiet word with the plants to cross that thin line between love and hate for Bride *

Wilts and dies or goes to seed?

I have a simular problem .... will keep an eye out for it. Thanks for the tip


just noticed that I've upgraded to seedling

wilts and dies mostly, although i did have one that lasted long enough to go to seed.

basil and coriander, bane of my herb garden, anything else i can grow no problem, those two and Dill hate me.

gratz on the promotion

[zazen999]

Coriander is the simplest herb to grow. Just chuck the seed in the ground and away it romps.

Don't transplant the seedlings and pick the leaves ever day or every other day, even if you don't need them, and they won't flower and thus go to seed. Also, there are 2 types - one is called leaf coriander and goes to seed very slowly, and the leaves are bigger than the usually feathery leaves.

Pop 3 or 4 [or more if you have the space] seeds in a corner together, and leave them - they look a bit like carrots when they sprout but just leave them be and you'll have coriander in no time. Honest. In fact, I interplant all my carrots with coriander to avert the carrot fly and it works [until the coriander gets frosted and dies of course]. I grow tons of the stuff.

[BarleySugar]

Vietnamese coriander cuttings root in about 3 days in water. I sent off some to a fellow grape a while ago, rooted and packed in damp tissue. They arrived in good condition. Unfortunately mine got bad red spider mite, and I'm waiting to see if it survives.

[BrideXIII]

Can I echo what RedThorn says...coriander is the simplest herb to grow. Just chuck the seed in the ground and away it romps.

Don't transplant the seedlings and pick the leaves ever day or every other day, even if you don't need them, and they won't flower and thus go to seed. Also, there are 2 types - one is called leaf coriander and goes to seed very slowly, and the leaves are bigger than the usually feathery leaves.

Pop 3 or 4 seeds in a corner together, and leave them - they look a bit like carrots when they sprout but just leave them be and you'll have coriander in no time. Honest. In fact, I interplant all my carrots with coriander to avert the carrot fly and it works [until the coriander gets frosted and dies of course]. I grow tons of the stuff.

well i usually grow it indoors, and i think thats the problem, cos i did bung some in the garden this summer and that one did quite well for a while.
i shall be trying again though, i do every year, hate to admit defeat

[Diva1983]

I have some Vietnamese corriander on my windowsil at the moment and it looks:
a) scraggy
b) it's dying (looking quite burnt)
c) it doesn't seem to be growing

Should I repot it and hope for the best?

[zazen999]

Yup - you are mollycoddling herbs again. What have I told you about that!!!

Would you believe me if I said my basil, sown outdoors under my early tomato in about May time is still going? I'm gonna take a photo this week and show you. I'm very proud of it.

[BrideXIII]

Yup - you are mollycoddling herbs again. What have I told you about that!!!

Would you believe me if I said my basil, sown outdoors under my early tomato in about May time is still going? I'm gonna take a photo this week and show you. I'm very proud of it.

i know, i know

my best mate tells me too, thing is i cook so much its nice and convenient to have the most used ones in the kitchen, i am trying to at least have them all in the garden, and then MORE in the kitchen this year .

cant believe your basil is still going, lucky you, its the one i use most of, but it always gets some bug that leaves white trails in the leaves.

[BarleySugar]

Diva, have you any fine webs on your v. coriander? That's what mine looked like, scraggy ad crispy leafed, and then I saw the webbing and tiny mites crawling. The cuttings were taken to overwinter in case I lost the large plant in the greenhouse.

[Diva1983]

Nope, no webs...infact nothing that would look like an attack of the unwanted kind.

Hhhhm. Can I take a cutting from it now or is this not the right time of the year?

[BarleySugar]

I think you can root them any time. I just cut off 3 inches or so of tip and put in water in the kitchen, roots really easily.

[Lizzy]

I have not heard of this variety, will try and find some and give it a go.

Liz

[BarleySugar]

I checked my large plants in the cold greenhouse today, it looks as if the fleece and piling up the pots have protected them from frost so far. there are small shoots showing. Perhaps they are hardier than I thought.