When to plant · 17 cities · zones 5b–7b

When to plant cilantro in New York

Direct sow cilantro around Apr 17 — the New York statewide median, counted from a last spring frost of May 1 across 1,819 ZIP codes and 186 NOAA stations.

Apr 17Direct sowMar 19 – Apr 30 across the state
May 1Last spring frostmedian · 1 in 10 years after May 16
Jun 1First harvest45 days from sow

The rule: Direct sow in 60–70 °F soil, a short row every two weeks from four weeks before the last frost until the heat arrives, then again from late summer.

New York cilantro, by step

Statewide median last frost May 1, first fall frost Oct 14, 2027 season. Each cultivar's own indoor lead time and days to maturity, same engine as the Plan Builder.

CultivarStart indoorsSowFirst harvestDays
CilantroSlow Bolt (Coriandrum sativum)Direct sowApr 17Jun 145 from sow

Tight means first harvest lands within two weeks of the median first fall frost. Statewide dates are the ZIP-weighted median of every NOAA 1991–2020 station New York's ZIP codes resolve to.

Cilantro in New York, city by city

Cilantro, scheduled from each city's nearest NOAA station — the same dates as its frost page.

CityLast frostSowFirst harvest
New Yorkzone 7bApr 1Mar 18May 2
Buffalozone 6bApr 24Apr 10May 25
Yonkerszone 7bApr 20Apr 6May 21
Rochesterzone 6bApr 24Apr 10May 25
Syracusezone 6aApr 29Apr 15May 30
Albanyzone 6aApr 27Apr 13May 28
New Rochellezone 7bApr 1Mar 18May 2
Mount Vernonzone 7bApr 1Mar 18May 2
Schenectadyzone 6aApr 27Apr 13May 28
Uticazone 5bMay 1Apr 17Jun 1
White Plainszone 7aApr 12Mar 29May 13
Hempsteadzone 7bApr 2Mar 19May 3
Troyzone 6aApr 19Apr 5May 20
Niagara Fallszone 6bApr 26Apr 12May 27
Binghamtonzone 6aMay 5Apr 21Jun 5
Freeportzone 7bApr 7Mar 24May 8
Kiryas Joelzone 6bApr 10Mar 27May 11

What New York cilantro need

SeedsThe cultivar decides the sauce. Everything downstream is damage control.
  • Cilantro / Coriander Seed

    Bolts in a heartbeat and there is nothing you can do about it — so you succession-sow instead of fighting it. Non-negotiable in salsa verde and zhoug.

StartSoil temperature and light intensity, indoors, weeks before your frost date.
  • Organic Seed Starter Potting MixMust have

    Seed-starting mix is not potting soil with a nicer label — it is finer, lighter, and low in nutrients on purpose, because a seedling's first roots want air and moisture, not fertiliser.

GrowRoot volume, nutrition and structure. Where most home crops actually fail.
  • Ocean Forest Potting SoilMust have

    Pre-charged with enough nutrition to carry a transplant for its first month without feeding, which is exactly the window when most container plants stall.

  • 5-Gallon Fabric Grow Bags, 5-Pack

    Fabric pots air-prune roots and drain faster than a plastic pot can, which is the entire reason container tomatoes fail. Five gallons is the honest minimum for a pepper; a tomato wants ten.

ProtectFrost, hornworms, aphids, and the fungal pressure that follows a wet July.
  • AG-30 Frost Protection Row Cover

    AG-30 buys roughly 6 °F of frost protection while passing about 70% of light — enough to carry a crop through an early-October cold snap that would otherwise end your season two weeks short.

HarvestTiming, handling, and weighing what you actually got.
  • 6" Micro-Tip Pruning SnipsMust have

    Ninety percent of sauce-garden cutting is snipping a pepper stem or a basil node, and a fine-tipped snip does it better than any pruner. Pulling peppers by hand tears the branch.

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Cilantro in New York: questions

When should I plant cilantro in New York?

Direct sow around Apr 17 at the statewide median; across the state that date runs from Mar 19 in the warmest tenth of New York's ZIP codes to Apr 30 in the coldest. To cut the freeze risk to one year in ten, count from May 16 instead of the median last frost. Use the city table for your own town.

When is the last frost in New York?

The ZIP-weighted median of NOAA 1991–2020 station medians is May 1. In the warmest tenth of New York's ZIP codes the median last frost falls on or before Apr 2; in the coldest tenth, on or after May 14.

When will New York cilantro be ready to harvest?

Cilantro planted on the statewide date is ready around Jun 1: 45 days from sow.

More for New York

Cilantro in every state → · New York frost dates → · How frost-date math works →