Last updated on September 23rd, 2022 at 02:15 pm
In an attempt to raise cilantro plants, cultivators and gardeners noticed that cilantro doesn’t grow like every other leafy vegetable.
Instead, it requires a temperature different from the average temperature every other green vegetable survives in.
As a result, so many cilantro cultivators question the plant’s ability to survive in cold weather.
So, Can Cilantro Survive Cold Weather? Cilantro is a cool-season food crop that grows best at cold to freezing atmospheric temperatures. The reason is that they have a cold hardy nature. In fact, cold weather conditions are the best for growing Cilantro plants.
Cold weather helps enhance the plant’s life span by extending its leafiness and greenish nature for a more extended period, thereby preventing it from blooming or bolting out too early.
How Cold Can Cilantro Tolerate?
The cilantro plant requires cold weather for its effective growth and development as well as its survival. Therefore, it survives better in cold weather than in hot and sunny weather conditions.
The cold-hardy nature of cilantro makes it possible for it to survive cold weather without wilting out. However, this peculiar feature of the cilantro plant doesn’t only help it survive in cold weather alone.
The cold weather helps accelerate its growth rate and enhances its longevity. However, freezing temperatures can also cause the plant to dry out and die.
Cilantro can survive at temperatures between 50- 85 degrees Fahrenheit which is the best weather condition for its growth.
Cilantro can also withstand temperatures as low as 10 degrees Fahrenheit. This is quite amazing. But it’s also worthy of note that if the temperature exceeds 85 degrees Fahrenheit the plant may start to bolt.
This bolting can result in a quick harvest period and sprout up of seed from the plant early.
The cilantro plant survives in cold weather but cannot survive under any cold weather conditions. As a result, there are certain limitations to this peculiar plant exhibit that you must appropriately note.
Extremely cold temperature is detrimental to the survival capacity of the cilantro plant. When the temperature becomes too low and the ground becomes too cold for the plant, it would lose its ability to grow well.
This loss leads to the death of the plant. Such temperatures that cilantro cannot tolerate range from 20 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit. You can only imagine how cold and frosty such a temperature would be.
Can cilantro Survive the winter?
Cilantro grows excellently well during winter. Winter happens to be cilantro’s favorite growth temperature.
The reason is that this weather condition enhances the plant’s performance by ensuring quicker growth and a longer life span of the plant.
To gain maximally from planting the cilantro crop, it is best to cultivate during winter growing seasons between April or May and continue until September to October.
However, cilantro only tolerates mild climate conditions as the bone-freezing temperature will only lead to the death of the plant.
Cilantro survives in winter and other cold weather conditions than it does in summer heat periods. Or any different temperate environment.
It’s a special kind of vegetable plant as it doesn’t grow like every other vegetable that belongs to the green vegetable family.
Cilantro can survive winter and do exceptionally well under such conditions. Notwithstanding, exposure to freezing temperatures is never favorable for its growth and proper development.
Does Cilantro Freeze Outside?
Cilantro can only freeze outside when exposed to a highly frosty temperature outside at that particular time.
Therefore, the prevailing atmospheric temperature outside the house at that time will determine the plant’s fate.
It is important to note that cilantro doesn’t just freeze out because you planted it outside. Instead, it only freezes and dies when the climatic condition exceeds the surviving capacity of the plant.
This process occurs only at frosty cold temperatures. As a result, every plant has a temperature at which they grow and produce well, and so does cilantro.
Cilantro only freezes under ice-cold weather conditions. This mainly occurs when cultivated outside the house and exposed directly to severe cold conditions, which are usually more intense at night.
So, cilantro only freezes outside when the temperature drops drastically and becomes too cold for its survival.
However, this shouldn’t discourage you from planting your Cilantro plant outside the house in a ceramic pot or in your garden.
A blanket or a covering for your garden can help preserve the plant’s life, preventing it from frosting and help in maintaining the temperature the plant requires to grow.
Can Cilantro Take a Light Frost?
Cilantro can withstand light frost. The reason is that cilantro is a frost-tolerant vegetable and grows well in a frosty environment.
In addition, it does not die during winter, unlike many other green vegetables.
However, the type of frost determines the survival of the plant. Cilantro tends to survive a light frost, which occurs at temperatures between 28-32 degrees Fahrenheit.
Frost lower than 28 degrees Fahrenheit is known as a hard frost and is highly detrimental to the plant.
The plant cannot survive at such temperatures, especially when there are no coverings such as row cover, cold frames, or low tunnels protecting it from severely cold weather conditions.
It is also important to note that cilantro exhibits the spectacular characteristic of taking a light frost without wilting out or dying.
Under such frosty conditions, the cilantro plant gets sweeter after undergoing a few touches of frost.
The cold weather causes them to convert their starches to sugar, making them taste sweeter and tastier.
Light frost is not destructive to the Cilantro plant. On the contrary, it’s a perfect weather condition for its proper growth and productivity.
Cilantro takes light frost and strives better at such temperatures as such temperature makes them last longer, stay leafy and green, and extend its harvest and bolting period.
Conclusion
Cilantro, unlike other green vegetables, grows perfectly well under frosty temperatures.
It is a cool-season garden plant that grows favorably under cold weather conditions due to its cold hardy nature.
The freezing weather temperature is destructive to this plant as it causes it to bloom at an early stage, produce seeds, and eventually die.
Light frost temperature is best for growing the cilantro plant as it helps improve the plant’s life span to a considerable extent, hence, preventing it from blooming too early and bolting out.
However, freezing weather can kill the cilantro plant at a fast rate.
Hence the need to know and understand the best weather conditions suitable for the proper growth and development of the cilantro plant to maximize and enjoy the numerous benefits of the cilantro plant.
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