It's time for me to plant cilantro. Can I plant near peas?

Hi Stephanie!

I love cilantro for cooking and use it in many dishes... If only I could grow it!!

I believe you know I haven't been very successful growing cilantro & I tried several times last year. I will take your lead and try starting now because i know it will bolt at the first sign of hot weather! Although fresh ground coriander is also very yummy in many dishes.

Cilantro should do well with peas or beans. I haven't tried growing with chervil or spinach but cilantro is said to enhance the growth of both.

A tea made from cilantro can be sprayed to help combat spider mites!

Thanks, Christine!

Although cilantro is supposed to do well planted in the fall, I got an email from Ann McCormick (the "herb 'n cowgirl" and local author on herbs) that now is the time to plant but it will bolt by July 4th. However, you can harvest seeds and plant again in the fall!

I'm planting peas this week, and have some dill to put with them. Will save some space for the cilantro as well!

I remember you posting Ann McCormick's website...on DG, I really like it, The herb n' cowgirl, very catchy name too! I'll have to go check out what she is up to. LOL

Also, as another aspect of companion planting:
cilantro, lettuce and other cool weather veggies and herbs can be grown now, along with some hot weather plants, like tomatoes. Then when the cilantro and lettuce are finished, you will have more room just in time for the tomatoes plants that are getting so big.

I read that cilantro repels grasshoppers and that some farmers use it as a barrier crop. Haven't tried it myself but let me know if it works

The cilantro will be long gone by the time grasshopper season rolls around down here.

Here they happen at the same time though the cilantro might be a little 'spent' by the time the grasshoppers come. Ugh, I hate those things!

The cilantro will be gone by July 4th. I sure hope the grasshoppers don't show up before then! I really don't like jumpy things like grasshoppers or crickets.

No, neither do I. They eat everything too.

I don't remember when cilantro is at its growth stage here. But if it will repel grasshoppers I'll try to plant a lot of it in places. When I first tried growing it I use to get bad headaches when I went to that part of the yarden. It took a couple years or more to figure out what was causing the headaches. I don't think it bothered me the last time I grew it.

Chickens and ducks are great 'repellers' of grasshoppers, etc. I really don't want to just repel them, I want them DEAD!! There is a disease spore that kills the first generation which the second generation eats ingesting the disease and having a worse case of it, ad infinium until the population is mostly if not totally killed off in some areas. The trick is to sow it at just the right time and in the right place. It is harmless to anything else. It's available thru most seed catalogs. But then I would miss the fun of watching my banties and ducks chase, catch and eat them.

GOD bless and keep each of you.

Another natural grasshopper repellent is Horehound. Horehound also has wonderful medicinal virtues.

There is a fungus that occurs in very wet years, Entomophthora grylli that will naturally infect the grasshoppers & can reduce the population. Maybe we will be lucky here since we've had SO much rain. But I agree with ladyleaf & I really look forward to chickens to get rid of them!


& That could be why grasshoppers are always worse in drought years.

The main grasshopper time here is August & September. I would love to have chickens to chase them and kill them like Leaflady said, but I fear being in the city someone would either A: complain about them OR B: one of my neighbors would steal them and eat them. Is horehound commonly available? Or does it need to be grown from seed?

Horehound isn't a common nursery item so would probably have to be planted from seed. It is supposed to grow wild here but I haven't found any so I'm starting some from seed this year to put somewhere in the garden.

Please let me know how it turns out for you! If it works I will try some next year!

I've planted some horehound, too. I don't think it's germinated yet, though.

I planted dill three times this year in patio pots. Two died. Now the third is in the GH. It's doing okay but not spectacular. Seems to just be sitting there.

Just a warning, the horehound will spread EVERYWHERE!!! And after it flowers it has little burs that will snag your pants as you walk by.

It's amazing to me how different plants can grow in various areas of US. I've heard and read people saying how invasive horehound has been for them. For me, horehound has been very hard to get growing from seed and keep alive. I've had the same one small plant for years now! I even had to move it to keep it alive.

After four years of coddling my one little horehound plant that I love for making tea, (it's excellent for curing bronchitis and other upper respiratory problems) this summer my hubby took the weed whacker to it... it hasn't come back.

Although, it didn't seem to keep the grasshoppers out of my garden!

Ecscuba, I find that dill likes cooler weather. I've have the most success growing it in the fall and even overwintering it with some leaf mulch, then come spring it will take off, until the weather gets to hot and it bolts! Last spring I grew some nice looking dill... it looked great in a patio pot until the weather warmed up. By June it had gone to seed.

Here it is in May ~

I love the look of dill plants, but something in it disagrees with my stomach. Nauseates me badly, as does fresh basil (I can eat the dried, just not the fresh). Can't eat dill in any foods or sauces.