Growing coriander and mint in containers (India edition)

Neither of these needs a proper garden bed. A container, decent light, and a little patience with the first sowing is all it takes. They fail for completely different reasons though, so don't assume one routine covers both.

Coriander (dhania): starting from kitchen seed

The whole dried coriander seeds sitting in your spice box will germinate just fine — no need to buy packet seed.

• Crack the seeds first. Each coriander "seed" is actually two seeds fused together. Roll them under a rolling pin or press with the back of a spoon until you hear them crack and split; this roughly doubles your germination rate.
• Use a wide, shallow container. A 6–8 inch deep tub beats a tall pot. Coriander has a taproot but doesn't need much depth, and a wide surface lets you sow densely.
• Sow shallow and scatter. Press seeds about 1 cm into moist potting mix, spaced roughly 2 cm apart. Coriander doesn't transplant well, so sow it where it will grow.
• Keep it out of peak afternoon sun while germinating. Morning sun is fine, but harsh 1–4 pm summer sun can dry the surface out before seeds even sprout. Give it a slightly shadier spot for the first 10 days, then move it somewhere sunnier.
• Harvest by cutting, not pulling. Once plants reach 10–15 cm, snip outer stems near the base instead of pulling the whole plant up. It keeps producing for several more weeks that way.

Coriander bolts (flowers and turns bitter) fast once temperatures cross about 30°C, so across most of India it does best from October to February. Sow it in peak summer and expect a much shorter window before it bolts on you — treat it as a quick, repeat-sown crop rather than something you keep going year-round.

Mint (pudina): starting from a cutting

Mint grows year-round in most Indian cities and is nearly impossible to kill once it takes root. The real challenge is containing it, not growing it.

• Root it in water first. Take a 4–5 inch cutting from a fresh bunch (the kind sold for chutney), strip the lower leaves, and place it in a glass of water on a windowsill. Roots usually appear within a week to ten days.
• Pot it once roots are 2–3 cm long. Move it into a container with drainage and regular potting mix. Planting too early, before roots have formed, is the most common reason cuttings fail.
• Give mint its own pot. Its roots spread aggressively underground and will crowd out anything sharing the container — don't mix it with coriander or other herbs.
• Keep soil consistently moist. Mint is far less drought-tolerant than most herbs and wilts fast in dry soil, especially in a small pot on a hot balcony.
• Pinch the tips regularly. Removing the growing tips every couple of weeks keeps the plant bushy instead of tall and leggy, and gives you a steady harvest.

A note on water and soil

Both herbs struggle in compacted soil in a small container, so mix in coco peat or compost so water drains through instead of pooling at the bottom. Not sure what mix to use or how often to feed these pots? Our soil and fertilizer basics guide covers exactly that. And if your balcony runs hot through summer, this watering schedule for Indian summers and monsoons will help you adjust rather than watering on autopilot.