If you still don’t have caraway growing in your garden, it’s time to correct this omission.
Caraway is an irreplaceable and, most importantly, unpretentious crop. Our grandmothers did not sow it at all, since the bushes of this spice grew in the yard and in the meadows, reproducing by self-seeding. All that was left was to collect the greens and seeds for use as needed.
Why does cumin not want to sprout?
Modern farmers do not leave plant propagation to chance, preferring to allocate a place for them in the garden. And here difficulties are possible. For example, many sow caraway, but never get shoots.
The thing is that caraway belongs to the family of umbelliferous plants. And their seeds are rich in essential oils. It is thanks to the oils that these crops have that amazing aroma for which they are valued in cooking. But the other side of the coin is that the seeds take a long time to germinate.
Caraway is resistant to cold, so it is sown in early spring. But in cold soil, essential oils do not dissolve for a long time, protecting the seed from premature sprouting. When sown in spring, the first shoots of caraway may appear in a month, or perhaps later, since much depends on weather conditions.
If the spring is warm, caraway may sprout in 18–20 days, but if it is cold, it will lie in the ground for more than a month.
Many gardeners simply do not wait for the shoots to emerge and plant another crop so that the space is not empty.
The best option is to imitate natural reproduction. That is, to sow before winter. During the winter, the seeds will undergo natural stratification, absorb moisture, and begin to sprout at the first warming. By the way, caraway can sprout at a temperature of 7-9 degrees, and its shoots can withstand frost.
How to prepare seeds
If you bought a packet of seeds in the spring or simply forgot to sow caraway in the fall, you can speed up its germination. There are two ways.
Method one: stratification
You need to sow the seeds in a bowl or small cups, moisten them and put them in the refrigerator for at least 3 weeks. This will allow the seeds to survive the winter and then quickly germinate in the warmth of the windowsill.
However, it should be remembered that it is not advisable to grow seedlings in warmth. After the first shoots appear, caraway should be transferred to a cool room where the temperature is no higher than 15 degrees.
The second option for stratification: place the seeds on a damp cloth or cotton pad, keep them in the refrigerator for several weeks, and then sow them in the garden.
The second method: heat treatment
To remove essential oils from seeds, you need to apply heat to them.
It is enough to place the seeds in a cloth bag and put it in warm water (45-50 degrees). When the water cools down, repeat the procedure.
Caraway seeds should be sown while they are still wet. To speed up germination even more, the row can be pre-soaked with boiling water and covered with film after sowing.
Thanks to these techniques, caraway seeds will sprout 2-3 times faster.
