Nigella sativa
Black cumin
Common names: Nigella, Roman coriander, Fennel flower
At a glance
- Light
- Full sun
- Spacing
- 10 cm, rows 25 cm
- Lifespan
- Annual
- Sowing
- Mar–May
- Harvest
- Sep–Oct
- Hardiness
- Cold damage below 0 °C
- Water need
- Low
Photo: AndreHolz at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Source
This description was machine-translated.
Description
Nigella sativa, known as black cumin, is an annual spice plant native to Western Asia and belongs to the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). It is not related to caraway, which is used in bread and sauerkraut, nor to cumin. The plants grow 25 to 50 cm tall, with an upright habit and finely divided, feathery leaves. From June to August, delicate star-shaped flowers in white or pale blue appear, providing nectar for bees and bumblebees. Afterwards, capsules form, in which small, angular, black seeds ripen until early autumn. The seeds have a herbaceous, mildly pungent and nutty flavor and are used on flatbread, in bread dough, on cheese, in lentil and vegetable dishes, and with pickled vegetables. A short row in a bed or a large container provides enough for the kitchen.
Care instructions
Sow black cumin directly into the bed from late March (calendar week 13), in a warm, full-sun spot with loose, well-drained soil. Keep the sown row moist until the seedlings emerge, and weed carefully during the first weeks, as they grow slowly at first. If frost threatens after emergence, cover the row with fleece at night. Thin the plants to about 10 cm spacing. Later, water only during prolonged dry spells, preferably in the morning. No fertilizer is needed. Seeds are ready when the capsules change from green to brown and the seeds rattle inside, usually in September and October. Then cut the whole stems, lay them on a cloth and let them dry for one to two weeks, after which you rub the seeds out of the capsules. A brief toasting in a dry pan makes the aroma rounder.
The care notes were machine-translated from German.
Garden year
SowingMar–May
HarvestSep–Oct
FloweringJun–Aug
Germination
- Soil temperature
- from 10 °C, ideally 18 °C
- Days to sprout
- 10 to 21 days
- Light
- Needs darkness to sprout
- Sowing depth
- 1 cm
- How to start
- Sow straight into the bed
Soil & site
Soil pH
Soil type
well-drained, sandy, loamy, humus-rich
Black cumin likes light, loose, warm soil that is well drained and only moderately rich in nutrients. Sandy loam with some humus is ideal, and the pH should lie between slightly acidic and neutral. The deep-rooted plants tolerate heavy, wet or compacted soils poorly; there they lack air and the roots rot. Loosen the soil thoroughly before sowing and remove the weeds, because the seedlings grow slowly at first and are easily overgrown.
Feeding
Light feeder
Black cumin needs no fertiliser. On nutrient-rich soil it grows tall and soft, topples easily in wind and rain and ripens later. In a container, too, fresh herb compost is enough, and no feeding is done afterwards.
Overwintering
Black cumin is annual and dies after the seed ripens in autumn; there is no overwintering. If you let a few capsules burst open, it self-sows, and the seedlings appear the following spring. Store your own seed dry and dark in a paper bag until you sow it again in March or April.
Propagation
Methods
- From seed
You propagate black cumin only from seed and sow it directly where it is to grow, because the deep root does not tolerate transplanting. From the end of March, as soon as the soil is no longer frozen, until May, draw drills 25 cm apart, lay the seeds thinly in them and cover them with about 1 cm of soil. Keep the soil evenly moist; after two to three weeks the seedlings come up. Later you thin them to about 10 cm apart. You collect your own seed in September or October from the fully ripe capsules and sow it again the following spring.
For your garden
Grow Black cumin yourself
Gartenkern tells you when frost is coming, when to sow and when to harvest, for your location.
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