Does anyone have some tips on how to start it and where it likes to grow? shade? Full sun? Also known as recao , Chadon beni , Mexican coriander , bhandhania , long coriander , sawtooth coriander , and ngò gai .[
it grows as a lawn weed in my inlaws waterlogged back yard in trinidad. I would say waterlogged soil in part shade to full sun.
Well… I certainly have such an area.
I was just discussing cooking with my coworker who is from Trinidad @lordkiwi. He mentioned this is the one thing he misses from home that he wants to grow here; He also said to try making Chow using unripe fruit; Mango, pineapple, apple using Chadon beni plus salt, pepper and a hot sauce to taste.
Also his mom makes a “sauce” using it plus other greens in the food processor. I’m now intrigued.
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Vietnamese restaurants sometimes have it as an fresh ingredient to put into pho. I think it grows well in hotter places like Florida.
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The very first time that I ate pho it came with a plate of greens that included ngo gai, which was delicious. I have yet to find another Vietnamese restaurant in this area that serves said green, though I can find it seasonally for sale at a special market. Maybe I’ll just purchase it and bring it with me to the restaurant.
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I’ve seen them in asian markets in far south. Maybe it’s seasonal where you live, you can ask the restaurant where they got theirs.
I have had complete failure germinating culantro/ cimarron known by 20 different names.
I grow it, though I ought to be growing much more of it. Yellow Rice with Pigeon Peas is practically the national dish here in Puerto Rico, and Sofrito is an essential base for it (with chicken bouillon and “Sazón” blend). The best sofritos use Culantro in tandem with Cilantro (along with Peppers – Bell, Banana, Ají Dulce –, Onions, Garlic and Oregano).
I was pretty sure it liked partial shade and waterlogged soil… but now I’ve been growing it in pots in the blazing hot roof, and it’s been doing great. It turns particularly lush when properly fertilized. Mine’s starting to go to seed now, and I’m thinking of putting some among my potted trees. I have seen it growing as a weed in several places, but I haven’t established it as feral in my yard yet.
@Masbustelo What’s your procedure when planting it? And how fresh are the seeds?
I was thinking it might be an option for a wet tub like a rice paddy but now I’m questioning it if I can’t get seeds to germinate…
kept a plant alive in my window for 3 years but it finaly died. I suspect you need to give the seeds the full tropical greenhouse treatment.
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It is annoyingly particular to where it wants to grow. I have seen it in dry gravely soil where it grew best if you ran a lawnmower through it every once in a while. I have seen it growing in wet soils. And yet it doesn’t like to grow where I have tried to grow it.
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Honestly, I have just tried sowing it in random places, because I know it is almost a weed in nature. I need to focus on it in pots like you have. I have bought the seed randomly on ebay.
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