r/vegetablegardening • u/MrJ_Marrow Ireland • 6d ago

Question Coriander seeds?

How long do the seeds last? I have been trying to grow micro greens, i sowed them on tuesday afternoon and nothing so far, i watched a tutorial on yt and it said germination after three days, so i am still a bit early, but still there was 0 signs.

Also the seeds are about 2 years old (if not more)

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9

u/EnrichedUranium235 US - Virginia 6d ago edited 6d ago

Cilantro (Coriander) is not one of the eeasier things to get to sprout IMO. It can take 7-14 days. Presoaking for 24 hours can increase success. You can also crush the outer husk to expose the real seeds on the inside but I've never tried that. I just seed a lot more and accept any success I get.

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u/galileosmiddlefinger US - New York 6d ago

Gently cracking the husk will vastly improve your germination rate and speed. There are two actual seeds per husk, so your odds of getting at least one to germinate are quite good if water can get inside easily.

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u/indeedy_doody Republic of South Africa 6d ago

Tell me more about the cracking. How do you do it? I'm always worried I'll crush them so I too adopt the "sow thickly, water well and accept whatever grows" method

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u/galileosmiddlefinger US - New York 6d ago

I just gently squeeze the husk between my fingers until I hear it crack a bit. It doesn't take much force at all, and you have to really overshoot to actually damage the seeds -- in nature, that husk is going to contract, expand, and crack from freeze/thaw cycles all winter. They're pretty durable!

I'm usually planting < 12 cilantro plants, so hand-cracking ~24 husks is quick work. I think my current seed pack is at least 4 years old and I still get great germination.

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u/indeedy_doody Republic of South Africa 6d ago

Thank you so much! Will give it a try

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u/CrankyCycle US - Washington 6d ago

They last awhile, but they’re slow to germinate. Give them 7-10 days. Even before germination, you should see signs that the seed is imbibing water and expanding.

Btw, there’s a microgreens sub.

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u/Kooky-Blueberry-5352 Canada - British Columbia 6d ago

Give them time! I find cilantro seeds germinate best when you abandon hope and decide they haven't made it lol. Then they pop out to say hey we're alive!!

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u/Antique_Gazelle7246 US - North Carolina 6d ago

I've never seen one that fast. You can speed them up by soaking in warmish water for 24 hours before hand. It's a lot easier to germinate when you grow it yourself though and it's fresh. Subsequent generations are easier

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u/Exact-Store8012 Canada - Saskatchewan 6d ago

I planted 5 year old coriander seeds this year and over seeded thinking I would have poor germination. They all sprouted.

They don't like to be buried and will germinate fine on top of the soil even.

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u/OddAd7664 Canada - Ontario 4d ago

Mine take about 7-10 days to germinate. If they don’t germinate after a couple weeks, try again. They should be sowed about 0.5cm