Santo Cilantro Seeds

Days to Maturity: 30 to 45

Santo is the preferred favorite among professional growers for good flavor and high yields, and we think it should be your cilantro of choice, too. This fast-growing, very dependable variety brings you big harvests every time, and you will love its pest-fighting abilities in the vegetable patch and flower garden as well as its delicious leaves and seeds.

This annual herb has an unmistakable strong, sharp scent and taste that has become the staple ingredient in salsa and other Mexican dishes. A member of the carrot family, cilantro Santo grows slow and steady, allowing you to keep harvesting leaves when others have already bolted to seed.

Begin picking the tender new leaves when the plant is about a month old. It is a cut-and-come-again, so harvest just what you need each time letting the plant regrow its foliage many times during the season. Keep any flower buds pinched off, especially from the central stem, to prolong the season of cilantro, for the leaves will lose flavor after the flowers arise. (However, at the end of the season you will want to harvest coriander seeds, so to eventually let the plant set flowers and seeds.)

After the 2- to 4-inch pale cream flower umbels have formed, allow them to go to seed. Cut and dry the heads, harvesting the seeds and using them as the spice coriander. Coriander can be used whole or ground in curries, Oriental dishes, and savory baked goods.

Direct sow these seeds about ¼-inch deep in the late spring soil, sowing every few weeks for a longer season of harvest. Fertilize when the seedlings are a few inches high, and pinch the plant frequently to increase its branching and bushiness. If you live in a warm climate, sow again in late summer and early fall for a fall crop.