How Do I Grow a Cumin Plant?

Cumin is a smoky-tasting, brown spice commonly used in Mexican, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Indian cuisines, especially as a spice in taco seasoning and curry powders. In herbal medicine, it is often used to ease pain and warm the body. Those that love the scent and flavor of cumin may find it beneficial to grow their own cumin plant. These little trees grow best in warm soils that are slightly deficient of nutrients. Most cumin plants require consistently moist, well-drained soils and grow best if started indoors.

Dried cumin seeds generally work best for growing the plants. Most of these seeds sprout within three weeks, when sown in peat soils. Some gardeners choose pots made of compressed peat and simply fill them with peat moss. A hole about 3 inches (about 6 cm) deep should be plenty deep enough to keep most cumin seeds warm. The seed should be covered with moss, but the gardener should not press down on the moss to pack it.

Peat pots should typically be placed in a shallow tray to catch any water draining out of them. This also allows the pots to pull in water from the tray as they dry out. The soil for growing a cumin plant should be moist to the touch, but not soggy or dripping. Placing the tray of pots in a sunny window or under a grow light should also be beneficial. The temperature around the planted seeds should typically be at least 68°F (20°C).

Most cumin saplings can’t survive in cold temperatures, such as fall and winter temperatures in much of northern Europe, the northern United States, and Canada. Gardeners in those areas should start growing a cumin plant indoors and wait until the end of May to plant it outdoors, if an outdoor location is desired. Some may prefer to keep cumin in a greenhouse, but a mature plant can often withstand winter temperatures by going dormant. Those that choose to transplant a cumin plant outdoors may have the most success using raised beds. These beds should typically be filled with topsoil, not potting soil, because keeping the nutrient content low often yields spicier seeds.

Gardeners growing their own cumin plant should note that rainfall, or twice weekly watering, usually keeps the trees plenty moist. Hot weather and drought may require the gardener to water outdoor cumin twice or three times a week, depending on how dry the soil gets. Most cumin trees don’t require fertilizer or side dressing to produce seeds.