Can I plant my spice collection?.Coriandre seeds for cilantro, poppy seeds etc?



I was wondering if I could plant some of my dried spices. :) . I have coriandre (cilantro seeds) and more. I also have celery seed, fenugreek seed, fennel seed, sesame seeds, cardamom pods, poppy seeds, etc. With these work or have they been over dried or shelled? I would be very interested to know if anyone has tried this. I have some coriandre and fennel soaking as I ask this.
I just realised that these are the seeds of herbs, not spices. I originally made the title of my question, “Can I plant my spice rack?”… I don’t have a spice rack though. :( . Hmm.
Thanks for the advise/ce everyone! :) . I put the seeds in a seed sprouter. It’s just a plastic tray that keeps the seeds moist. So far it seems that I see the little cotyledons? of Fenugreek, Sesame and Flax seeds! :O).


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4 comments a "Can I plant my spice collection?.Coriandre seeds for cilantro, poppy seeds etc?"

I don’t know if it will work or not… I do know that a couple of years ago I threw some ground red pepper(Cayenne pepper) seeds into a pland to keep the cat out of it and they sprouted and actually produced peppers. So give it a shot ….

Yes you can if you can get the seeds to germinate. They way to test for germination is to get some paper towels and a plastic bag. wet the paper towels so they are just about dripping damp (but not soaking wet). Put 10 to 20 seeds of one type of herb on the damp paper towel. Put the seeds and towels into plastic bag and put in a warm place out of direct light to germinate. The top of your fridge is perfect as that is usually the warmest place in the house. Check the seeds daily after a couple of days and count how many of each type germinate. If you get under 20% I would not bother with those herbs (probably too old) for the garden.

Cardamom you will have problems with if you don’t have a greenhouse. they need a couple of years to produce seeds and get huge and do not like cold winters. They are related to artichokes and other thistles.

Good Luck.

Isadora has a good point on the poppy seeds. They are papaver somniforum which are opium poppies and illegal in the USA. It is unlikely the DEA or your local cops will bust you for having a narcotic (most can barely tell what a poppy is much less they different varieties of them) but know this is a narcotic plant that can yield you much more than flowers and seeds…

I frequently grow coriander from my herbs, and dill. Celery is great once you get it growing it will re seed, you can use it like parsley to give flavour to soups and stews.
Also have you tried sprouting these seeds? Soak in cool water for about four hours, pour off water cover with a damp cloth. Every time you go to the sink rinse them in cool water. Fenugreek. radish. alfalfa, onion seeds are great like this. Blue boiling peas are delicious sprouted as are green lentils and some of the smaller bean types.
Some won’t be suitable for sprouting but you will find out soon enough which ones go off because they germinate too slowly or are too old.
Just throw them in a moist fertile spot in the garden, probably something will come up, it depends on your climate.
Mixed lettuce seeds are great too but cover them with water and leave them in the frig for 2 days before you plant. That tricks lettuces into thinking the spring thaw is over and they germinate better. You can start picking individual leaves as a cut and come again veg.

Sesame seeds probably wont sprout, some of the others might, poppy seeds just might, I have planted them before and they grew. They are papaver somniferum, which might or might not be available in garden seed as it is opium poppy, but give it a shot. They are beautiful plants. Cilantro will probably grow.

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