Successional Coriander Sowing for Year-Round Leaves

The trick to never running out of coriander is simple: sow little and often. Because coriander runs to seed quickly — often within a couple of months — a single sowing will only keep you in leaves for a few weeks. Instead of one big patch, you sow a small batch every two to three weeks. By the time one batch tires, the next is ready, and you have fresh leaves on tap from spring right through to the first frosts (and beyond, on a windowsill).

This little-and-often approach is called successional sowing, and for coriander it isn't a nice-to-have — it's the whole method. Get into the rhythm and you'll wonder why you ever bought those limp supermarket bunches.

Why succession is essential for coriander

Most herbs are happy to sit and be picked all season. Coriander is not. It is a short-lived annual that is genetically wired to flower, set seed and die — and warm, bright, dry weather brings that on fast. The plant simply decides its job is to make seed, the leaves turn feathery and bitter, and that batch is finished for the kitchen.

This rush to flower is called bolting, and coriander is one of the worst offenders in the whole herb garden. A spell of hot June weather, a dry patch, or a check from being transplanted can all tip a plant into bolting within days. There's no variety that's truly bolt-proof, only ones that hold on a little longer — so you can't out-buy the problem with seed.

That's exactly why a single sowing never lasts. If you want coriander in July, August and September, you have to keep starting new plants behind the ones already growing. Each batch gives you a few good weeks of leaf; the steady supply comes from overlapping them. If your plants seem to bolt the moment you turn your back, it's worth reading our full guide to why coriander bolts and how to slow it down alongside this one — the two work hand in hand.

A simple sowing schedule

The plan is the same every year: a small sowing every two to three weeks through the main season, then a different approach for the cold months. You don't need much each time — half a metre of row, or a single decent pot, is plenty for a household.

Main season (April to August). Start sowing outdoors from April, once the soil has begun to warm. Sow again every two to three weeks. The early and late sowings (April–May and August) are the easiest, because cooler, damper weather keeps plants leafy for longer. The high-summer sowings (June–July) are the ones most likely to bolt quickly, so sow those a touch more often — every two weeks rather than three — and give them a cooler, lightly shaded spot.

Shoulder season (September to October). A sowing in early autumn, while the soil is still warm but the air is cooling, often gives some of the best leaf of the whole year. These plants grow slowly, sit without bolting, and can crop into early winter if you give them a cloche or fleece in a cold snap.

Cold months (November to March). This is where indoor growing takes over. Sow into pots or trays on a bright, cool windowsill, or in an unheated greenhouse or porch. Coriander genuinely prefers these cooler, lower-light conditions for leaf — it won't bolt, so a winter pot can keep going for many weeks. Our guide to growing herbs on a windowsill covers light, watering and pot choice for indoor sowings like these.

To pin sowing dates to your own corner of the country — the north and Scotland run a couple of weeks behind the south — the planting calendar is the quickest way to keep yourself on schedule without having to remember it all.

Direct sowing vs modules

For coriander, sowing direct where it's to grow is almost always the better choice. Here's why: coriander forms a long taproot and resents being moved. Lift it or pot it on and that root check is often enough, on its own, to trigger bolting — which defeats the entire point of a fresh sowing.

So skip the modules and seed trays you might use for tomatoes or other transplants, and sow straight into the ground, a raised bed, or the final pot.

• In the ground or a bed: rake a shallow drill about 1cm deep, water it, then scatter the seed thinly along it and cover lightly. Aim for a seed every couple of centimetres. Thin only if it's a real thicket — coriander is happy growing fairly close as a cut-and-come-again leaf.
• In a pot: use a pot at least 15cm deep to give that taproot room, fill with peat-free multipurpose compost, and broadcast the seed over the surface. A wide pot or trough sown densely gives you a generous "carpet" of leaf to snip.

Coriander "seed" is actually a fruit holding two seeds, so germination is sometimes patchy. Sowing fairly thickly and keeping the surface evenly moist evens it out. Don't let it dry out at this stage.

Sowing direct also suits the little-and-often rhythm perfectly: there's no pricking out, no potting on, no hardening off. You simply make a new short drill every couple of weeks. It's one of the most beginner-friendly jobs in the garden, and a good one to hand to children — see getting kids growing for more like it.

Keeping each batch leafy

Succession gets you a constant stream of plants; a few habits keep each batch in good, mild leaf for as long as possible before it bolts.

Water steadily. Dry roots are one of the fastest routes to bolting. Keep the soil or compost evenly moist, especially in warm spells and especially for plants in pots, which dry out quickly. A good soak every couple of days in summer beats a daily splash.

Give summer sowings some shade. Coriander dislikes baking in full midsummer sun. The April, September and indoor sowings are happy in good light, but June and July batches last noticeably longer in light or dappled shade — the foot of a taller crop, or the cooler side of the garden, is ideal.

Harvest young, and harvest often. Start picking once plants are 10–15cm tall, taking the outer leaves and leaving the central growing point. Regular cutting keeps plants leafy and busy and delays flowering — a plant you pick from often will out-last one you leave alone. Use scissors and take no more than a third at a time.

Let the last batch flower on purpose. When a late plant finally bolts, don't pull it straight away. The white flowers are loved by hoverflies and other beneficial insects whose larvae eat aphids, so they earn their keep — and if you leave the seed to ripen and dry, you've grown your own coriander spice (and free seed for next year) into the bargain.

Keep that rhythm going — a fresh short sowing every couple of weeks, steady water, a little summer shade — and you'll have your own coriander whenever you want it. For everything else on growing this herb well, from choosing varieties to harvesting the roots, head back to the main coriander guide. And if your sowings keep racing to flower despite all this, the dedicated guide to coriander bolting digs into the causes and fixes in more detail.