Gardener shares incredible method to grow 'infinite amount' of popular ingredient: 'I love this hack'

Why buy cilantro in the store when you can easily grow "an infinite amount"? 

TikToker Brianne (@thezenhenandthehoneybee) shows you how, and it all starts with some seeds.

@thezenhenandthehoneybee People either love or loathe cilantro, I happen to love it. Here are a few more tips: If you are purchasing cilantro seed to grow, don't buy it in packets. Instead buy a big bag of cilantro microgreens. They are the same seeds and you'll get way more for your money. Learn to save your own seeds and you'll never have to buy them again. Let me know if you'd like to see how I save and preserve my seeds here. Cilantro thrives in cool temps that are above freezing. If you have tried and failed growing cilantro in the past, you may have been growing it during too warm of temperatures. During warm temperature and/or times of stress, cilantro reacts by releasing bitter compounds and going straight to seed instead of staying nice and leafy and tasty. So keep them regularly watered and grow them during cool weather. Instead of growing individual cilantro plants, try growing it in a patch or large pot and only clipping the tops off when harvesting. This way, your plants can then keep growing and producing for you all season! #growingfood #cilantro #coriander #growingcilantro #growingherbs #homestead #smallfarm #subsistencelife ♬ original sound - TheZenHenandTheHoneyBee

The scoop

If you have coriander seeds in your pantry, you have unsprouted cilantro. Brianne said, "Coriander and cilantro come from the same plant."

Once the earthy-tasting, tan-colored seeds sprout herbal leaves, you have cilantro.

The seeds are actually two in one, so Brianne places the seeds in a bag and gently smashes them with a rolling pin to speed up germination. 

Soak with water between two and 12 hours, strain, and plant. After you've prepared the soil, simply sprinkle the germinated seeds over it and water daily. From then on, you will have "a ton of cut-and-come-again cilantro."

Don't forget the right conditions. Brianne said the ideal weather for cilantro production is "cool temps that are above freezing." 

How it's helping

This patch-growing method lets you get more of the herb than you would ever get from buying packets. 

When you try patch growing instead of small pots, you can enjoy the herb year-round by only "clipping the tops off when harvesting." That means you don't have to keep buying seeds or plants.

With the increasing costs of food and concerns about supply chain issues, learning how to grow your own food may be a life- and money-saver. 

When do you plan to start gardening this year? I already have 🧑‍🌾 In the next couple of weeks 🗓️ As soon as the ground thaws 🥶 Probably never 🤷 Click your choice to see results and speak your mind.

There are other hacks if you want to grow cilantro and other herbs indoors due to space limitations or the climate. Recycle those sardine tin cans to grow microgreens on your windowsill. Do you have a shoe organizer? Use it for vertical herb cultivation.

Gardening makes it easy to stay active and burn calories while aiding mental health. Practicing your green thumb can mean less stress, according to the Mayo Clinic. Have peace of mind when you know where your food is coming from, ingest more fiber, avoid chemicals, have a lower grocery bill, and enjoy better-tasting food than store-bought produce.

Did you know that growing your favorite herbs or tomatoes, or planting a fruit tree, can help the environment? Doing so decreases the demand and excessive use of fuel to transport produce far and wide from other countries to your local grocery stores — that means fewer polluting gases in the air. 

Speaking of that toxic pollution, healthy plants absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Your garden can also attract friendly pollinators searching for food and habitats. 

What everyone's saying

The commenters were in awe of how to have an "infinite cilantro glitch!" 

One said, "I love this hack. I've been doing [it] since the last time you posted and it works amazing! There's sooooo much cilantro I can cut it long before it bolts!"

"How did it not occur to me, a person perpetually trying to hunt down cilantro in grocery stores, that I could GROW MY OWN," exclaimed an excited fan of the herb.

When asked where she got her seeds, she replied, "I save my own and plant those, but originally I bought a big bag of microgreen cilantro seeds."

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