I want to harvest the seeds from a Coriander/Cilantro plant. I would like to pick them now, but investigation on the internet suggests that I should let them dry on the plant. Why?
The plant has bolted so I would like to cut it back to encourage new growth.
Chances are picking the seeds once it's gone to seed isn't going to actually encourage new growth. If you're not interested in the coriander spice then you might as well try picking off the seeds and flowers to see what happens.
The seeds dry on the plant and you pick them when the plant is dried, you can either leave them in your garden to pick them or hang'em upside down and dry them. I don't think the seeds in your picture will dry out properly if picked though, they usually turn brown on the plant.
The longer you can leave the seed-heads on the plant the better (IMHO).
Q. Why?
You want the seeds inside to fully develop, become mature before harvesting ie Gain maximum flavour, and this can only be achieved by leaving the seeds on the (living) plant.
Immature seeds will taste bitter ie Not what most people want from their Coriander seeds.
The seeds are fully mature, ready for harvest, when the seed-heads start to turn brown. As soon as you see this happen (it's best to keep a daily eye on this to occur, as you don't want the seeds falling from the seed-heads under their own steam), either harvest the whole plant or just cut the seed-heads off.
If you allow the seed-heads to ripen too much
After harvesting you will need to dry the seeds, please let us know if you require information on that part of the process.
You can harvest the seeds just as they go pink/brown and dry them successfully for both spice and germination (about 75% success). This avoids them falling off but you do need to check them often.
