Exposure Full-sun
Matures in 120 days
Season Warm season
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Cuminum cyminum. Cumin is one of the most widely used spices in the world. Its strong flavour balances well with other aromatic spices, and it is central to an incredibly wide range of spice mixes and marinades. In a good hot summer, cumin will produce a wide, robust umbel of tiny white flowers, followed by the unmistakable seeds. While in bloom, cumin joins its cousins cilantro, caraway, and dill as highly prized food sources for a host of beneficial insects. Cumin can even be planted for this single purpose, and it will attract ladybird beetles, lacewings, hover flies, and a wide range of predatory wasps. Cumin grows to about 50cm (20") tall.
Matures in 120 days. (Open-pollinated seeds)
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Latin
Latin
Cuminum cyminum
Family: Apiaceae
Difficulty
Difficulty
Easy
Season & Zone
Season & Zone
Season: Warm season
Exposure: Full sun
Timing
Timing
Cumin needs a long hot season to produce seeds. Start indoors four weeks before the last frost date, and transplant outside once temperatures are steadily above 15°C (60°F). Ideal temperature for germination: 20-30°C (68-86°F), so use bottom heat. Seeds should sprout in 7-14 days.
Starting
Starting
Sow 5mm (¼”) deep. Transplant at a spacing of 10cm (4″).
Growing
Growing
Cumin needs approximately 120 days to maturity from the sowing date to produce viable seeds. It is an annual member of the carrot family, and produces umbelliferous flowers that are highly attractive to beneficial garden insect predators. Flowering begins mid-summer.
Harvest
Harvest
Cut the seed heads to dry indoors as late in the season as possible, or as soon as seeds can be seen to fall from the seed head.
Seed Info
Seed Info
Usual seed life: 2 years.
Companion Planting
Companion Planting
As an umbelifer, cumin produces shallow flowers that are arranged in an umbel. All umbelifers are naturally attractive to predatory insects such as lacewings, ladybird beetles, and parasitoid wasps. Plant near any crop that normally attracts caterpillars or aphids.
More on Companion Planting.
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Cumin needs a long hot season to produce seeds. Start indoors four weeks before the last frost date, and transplant outside once temperatures are steadily above 15°C (60°F). Ideal temperature for germination: 20-30°C (68-86°F), so use bottom heat. Seeds should sprout in 7-14 days.
Sow 5mm (¼”) deep. Transplant at a spacing of 10cm (4″).
Cumin needs approximately 120 days to maturity from the sowing date to produce viable seeds. It is an annual member of the carrot family, and produces umbelliferous flowers that are highly attractive to beneficial garden insect predators. Flowering begins mid-summer.
Usual seed life: 2 years.
Cut the seed heads to dry indoors as late in the season as possible, or as soon as seeds can be seen to fall from the seed head.
