collecting seeds from koriander and other herbs

 

As an extension of my last post, any suggestions on how to
properly fetch viable seeds from koriander plants and other
herbs? I have quite a lot of koriander plants (about 1000) that
have flowered since a couple weeks ago and I want lots of good
seeds for next year.

Dominic

 



I only know how to do it by hand which is going to be backbreaking with 1000
plants.  I leaves the seed head on the plant until it looks brown and dryish
and then rub the head between my hands, if the seed is mature and dry the
tissue around it will break releasing the seeds which fall into my hands or
on to paper that I have put underneath.  If the seed is still green leave it
longer on the plant.

You will get maybe 30 to 70 seeds per plant (rough guess) and the viability
is quite high so you may not need to do all 1000 plants unless planning on a
few acres for next year.  Since coriander seed can be purchased in bulk
quite cheaply you would think there must be a way to do it that is simpler
but I don't know what that is.

David

 

On Sun, 21 Aug 2005, David Hare-Scott wrote:


Thanks bunches! I am curious about bulk suppliers, anywhere on the
planet for such things. Actually I wanted celantro, which apparently
is not the same plant. Here in Sweden they charged me several dollars
for only about koriander 100 seeds, and just after I planted them a
friend came buy, laughed, and out of sympathy just gave me over a
thousand seeds. Most importantly, his seeds had much higher
growability (nearly 100%) than the commercial ones (less than 50%).
I bought celantro from the same supplier and none of the roughly
100 seeds ever popped up out of the soil. I would like to find a
good source for this.

Dominic

 

.

FYI Cilantro is spanish for coriander, they are the same plant

 


On Thu, 8 Sep 2005, BinaryBill wrote:

Not sure yet. I thought I had this figured out, but maybe
not.

Cilantro is by some accounts Coriandrum sativum, and the latin
scientific name is definitely koriander that is believed to have
originated in the Mediterranean. By other accounts, Cilantro,
also spelled "Culantro" is Eryngium foetidum, an entirely different
plant looking nothing like koriander that is indigenous to the West
Indies that tastes like koriander and is commonly used in Central
American cooking. This plant is not thought to have originated in the
Mediterranean and is indigenous to Central America. The common
Mexican terminology for Eryngium foetidum is apparently "Cilantro
extranjero", or simply "Cilantro". I was recently at a BBQ with some
native American indians from Central America and when I mentioned
Cilantro or Culantro, they seemed to clearly recognize I did not
mean koriander and clearly understood that Eryngium foetidum was
Cilantro which was same as "Cilantro extranjero". They pointed me
to a local grocer of columbian decent that sold large bags of
Eryngium foetidum seeds.

I would be very greatful if there is an academic here with good working
knowledge of plant systematics who could clarify this discrepancy.

Dominic