How to Grow Mint Next to Cilantro

While mint is a perennial herb and cilantro an annual, finding the two growing in the same herb garden is common. Mint is a prolific grower that must be kept in check or it takes over the garden. For this reason, it is easier grown in a container or raised garden for easier control. Cilantro grows from seed and is harvested in the early summer or left to go to seed in the heat of the summer. Cilantro seed is called coriander and is used in many recipes.

Compost
Sand
Garden soil
Large container with holes in the bottom or a raised garden area
Cilantro seeds
Mint plants
5-10-5 fertilizer

Instructions

- 1
  Locate an area for your raised garden or container that has partial shade. While mint can take full sun, cilantro bolts and produces seed too quickly when it is too hot.
- 2
  Mix equal portions of compost, sand and garden soil. These herbs like a rich, well-draining soil. If the soil is too nutrient rich, the herbs have a bland taste. Fill the container or the raised bed with the soil mixture.
- 3
  Plant the cilantro seed directly in the soil in the early spring. Add water dampening the soil and keep it moist until the seed germinates in seven to 10 days. After germination, cut back the watering to every other day until the plants are at least 2 to 4 inches tall.
- 4
  Place young mint plants 18 inches from the cilantro in the garden. Put the plants at the same level they were grown in the current pots or plant the entire peat pot, tearing off the peat pot’s top, so as not to create a watering hole.
- 5
  Allow the mint to establish itself in the garden, watering when the top of the soil starts to dry.
- 6
  Place a 1-inch layer of compost around all of the plants to help retain moisture and nourish the soil.
- 7
  Apply a 5-10-5 fertilizer in the late spring. Use 3 ounces per 15 square feet of area once per year unless the herbs are showing signs of stress, such as yellowing leaves.

pH Levels for Germinating Chia Seeds

How to Harvest Ginger

Growing Herbs