Herb Seed Germination: How Long Each Herb Takes

A pot of bare potting mix can make a week feel very long. You sowed the seeds, you kept them moist, and nothing seems to be happening. Before you tip the pot out and start again, it helps to know that herb seed germination runs on very different clocks depending on the herb: basil is often up within a week or so, while parsley can sit quietly for most of a month.

The times below are typical ranges, not promises. Temperature, moisture, the age of the seed and the variety all move them, sometimes by a lot, so treat the seed packet as your best guide and use this page to judge whether your pot is still within a normal wait.

Typical sprouting times by herb

These ranges assume fresh seed in evenly moist potting mix at ordinary room warmth. A cool windowsill usually pushes every one of them toward the slow end or past it.

Mint is missing on purpose: it is not reliable from seed and is normally started from a plant, a division or a cutting.

Why the ranges are so wide

The same packet of chive seed can behave quite differently in two homes. Four things account for most of the spread:

• Temperature. Usually the biggest factor. Mix on a cold sill by the glass can be much cooler than the room behind it.
• Moisture. A seed that dries out partway through sprouting often dies. A surface that swings between wet and dry slows everything down.
• Seed age. Old seed tends to sprout more slowly and in smaller numbers, and some herbs lose vigor faster than others.
• Variety. Different varieties of the same herb do not always keep the same pace, which is one reason the packet matters.

Why some herbs are slower than others

Each herb also brings its own habits.

Temperature preference

Basil is a tender warm-season plant, and its seed responds to warmth: quick in warm mix, sluggish in a chilly one. Cilantro is a cool-season herb and does not need the same heat.

Seeds that need light

Oregano and thyme seeds are tiny and are sown on the surface, pressed gently into the mix and left uncovered or barely dusted over. Buried deeply, they may never appear. If a pot of either has stayed bare, sowing depth is one of the first things to consider.

Seed coat compounds in parsley

Parsley seed carries natural compounds in its coat that hold back sprouting until they have been leached away by moisture. That is a large part of why parsley is slow and comes up a few seedlings at a time. There is more on handling it in the guide to growing parsley indoors.

Short-lived seed

Chive and parsley seed lose their ability to sprout sooner than many others. A packet from a few years ago may give only a thin showing or none, however well you treat it.

What honestly speeds things up

There are no tricks that turn a three-week seed into a three-day one. Three plain things do keep a pot toward the quick end of its range:

• Steady moisture. Keep the surface evenly damp, never soggy and never dusty. A clear cover over the pot holds moisture in until the first sprouts show, then comes off.
• Suitable warmth. A warm room suits basil; a seedling heat mat is one option in a cold house. Cilantro and parsley are comfortable somewhat cooler.
• Fresh seed. Buy seed packed for the current season and store leftovers cool and dry.

The full sowing method, including depth and covering, is in the guide to starting herbs from seed indoors. For general background, see University of Maryland Extension’s page on starting seeds indoors.

What to do while you wait

Check the surface with a fingertip and water gently when it starts to feel dry. Resist digging to look: a seed that has just pushed out its first root is easily broken.

The first sign is usually a pale loop or a pair of seed leaves, which look nothing like the later true leaves. Once anything green shows, move the pot to your brightest light so the seedlings do not grow leggy.

When to re-sow

Give a pot the full range for that herb plus a bit of margin before you give up. As a rough guide, if the slow end of the range passed a week or two ago and the mix has been kept moist and reasonably warm the whole time, re-sowing is sensible.

Before you do, think through the likely causes so the second try is different from the first:

• Did the surface dry out, even once, for a day?
• Was the pot somewhere cold, such as a sill by the glass at night?
• Was the seed old, or stored somewhere warm or damp?
• Were tiny seeds covered too deeply?

Often more than one applies. Change what you can, use fresh seed, and sow again.

Re-sowing as a habit, not a failure

Some herbs are meant to be sown again and again. Cilantro is short-lived and soon starts bolting, so a fresh pinch of seed every few weeks keeps leaves coming; the guide to growing cilantro indoors covers that routine. Basil is quick enough that a second sowing costs you little time.