Jeera, Cumin Seeds

Which jeera is this?

Cuminum cyminum, safed jeera, in a packet of 500 seeds. It belongs to the Apiaceae. Black cumin or kalonji (Nigella sativa, sold separately as our Black Cumin Seeds) is a different plant in the Ranunculaceae, with very black seeds that resemble onion seeds.

Shah jeera is a third plant, Bunium persicum, and the name kala jeera is used for more than one spice, so go by the Latin name when you compare packets.

What 500 seeds weigh

About 2–3 g. That follows from an approximate thousand-seed weight of about 4–6 g, typical of Indian cumin genotypes; we have not weighed this lot.

Germination temperature

Cumin seed germinates best at about 20 °C. In a laboratory test on paper at 10, 15, 20 and 25 °C two Gujarat varieties did best at 20 °C, and germination suffers above 30 °C and below 10 °C. Treat this as a guide for the species, not a result for this lot.

Growth and development are reported at 9–26 °C, so this is a cool-season crop.

Sowing depth and spacing

Sow no deeper than 1.5 cm, in rows 25 cm apart with plants about 10 cm apart in the row.

Soil and drainage

Use well-drained sandy loam to medium-heavy soil; drainage is critical, and the preferred pH range is 6.8–8.3.

Days to harvest

Plan for roughly 100–140 days to maturity. Released Indian varieties mature in 100 days (Gujarat Cumin-2) to 120–140 days (RZ-19); this seed is not a named variety, so the range is a guide, not a promise.

What goes wrong

• Fusarium wilt: tips and leaves droop and the whole plant dies.
• Alternaria blight: small brown spots that turn blackish, favoured by humid, cloudy weather, especially at flowering and seed setting.
• Frost at flowering and early fruit set harms the crop.

When to sow around the world

Cumin is frost-tender and takes roughly four months to ripen, so where winters are cold, sow it in spring after the last frost.

• Cold-winter climates, such as the northern USA and the UK: sow outdoors 1 to 2 weeks after the average last spring frost, or start seed indoors 6 to 8 weeks before that date. The crop needs about 120 frost-free days from planting to harvest. In the UK, sow under glass in early spring or outdoors in late spring.
• Southern Hemisphere, South Australia: trials on the Eyre Peninsula were sown in late April and mid-May, which is autumn there.

Also known as

Jeera, Zeera, Zira, Safed jeera, Comino, Cumino, Kreuzkümmel, Komijn, Kammun, Zireh and Kimyon.