Germination temperature
Warm and humid; the crop's climate is about 25-30 °C (77-86 °F).
Tree growing guide
Nutmeg is a slow, shade-loving evergreen tree of the humid tropics whose seed must be sown fresh, because it dies if it dries out. This guide covers sowing, the long wait for germination, shade, and the male-or-female question that seed-grown trees only answer when they first flower.
Warm and humid; the crop's climate is about 25-30 °C (77-86 °F).
About 2 cm (0.8 in), in sand over a sandy soil bed.
Slow: about 30-90 days, typically 50-80 days.
Shade. Germinate and grow young plants in a cool, shaded spot.
Remove the fleshy rind and red mace, then sow at once. Never dry the seed.
Sow in a bed or pot, move to polybags at the two-leaf stage, plant out at the start of the rains.
Nutmeg seed is recalcitrant: it is killed by drying and cannot be stored like ordinary seed (ICFRE Institute of Wood Science and Technology). In an Indonesian storage trial the best packaging still held only about 56% germination after 12 days, and the authors advise sowing soon after harvest. Kerala Agricultural University (KAU) recommends sowing immediately after collection; if sowing must wait a few days, keep the seed in damp soil, not in a dry packet. Remove the fleshy rind and the red mace before sowing.
Not needed. Sow the nut in its shell; cracking it damages the kernel.
Not needed. Nutmeg is a tropical tree; cold kills the seed.
Not needed when the seed is fresh. Keep it moist from harvest to sowing instead of soaking a seed that has already dried, which will not revive it.
Warm. No precise germination temperature is published for nutmeg, but the tree grows in hot, humid climates with mean temperatures of about 25-30 °C (77-86 °F). Outside the tropics use a heated propagator or a warm greenhouse.
About 2 cm (0.8 in) deep and roughly 12 cm (5 in) apart in the bed (KAU). In pots, sow one seed per deep pot.
KAU uses raised beds 100-120 cm (40-48 in) wide and 15 cm (6 in) high of garden soil and sand mixed 3:1, topped with 2-3 cm (1 in) of sand. Any free-draining, sandy mix works in pots.
Water regularly so the bed never dries, but do not let it waterlog; the seed rots in stagnant water.
Choose a cool, shaded place. Young nutmeg plants are grown under about 50% shade (World Agroforestry).
Patience is essential. KAU gives 50-80 days in seedling beds; in rootstock beds germination starts around day 30 and can take up to 90 days.
Move seedlings into polybags when the shoot has produced its first two opposite leaves (KAU), using a soil, sand and cow dung mix of 3:3:1, and keep them shaded.
KAU plants in pits 90 x 90 x 90 cm (3 ft) filled with topsoil and compost or manure, spaced 8 x 8 m (26 ft), at the start of the rains. Plant shade trees or bananas in advance; World Agroforestry notes that shade can be reduced gradually and trees can grow without it after 6-7 years.
Nutmeg is dioecious: a seedling shows its sex only when it first flowers, about 7-9 years old in good conditions, and about half of seedling trees turn out to be unproductive males (KAU). Growers who want fruit plant grafted females with about one male per 20 females; from seed, raise several plants so that at least some are female.
Cause: the seed dried out before sowing, so the recalcitrant embryo died. Fix: sow only fresh seed straight away, and keep any waiting seed in damp soil.
Cause: nutmeg is simply slow. Fix: keep the bed shaded and moist and wait up to 90 days before giving up.
Cause: black, white and shield scales attack nursery seedlings and young plants (KAU). Fix: inspect regularly and wipe off or treat small infestations early.
Cause: leaf spot and shot hole (Colletotrichum gloeosporioides). Fix: remove infected leaves and avoid overcrowding; KAU sprays 1% Bordeaux mixture in the rainy season on plantations.
Cause: too much sun. Fix: give 50% shade until the tree is established.
KAU recommends a hot, humid climate with no pronounced dry season and at least 1,500 mm of rain, from sea level to about 1,300 m. Dry climates and waterlogged soil are unsuitable; the humid south-west of India suits it well.
Seed-grown trees flower and fruit from about 7-9 years, and in less favourable areas only after 15-20 years (World Agroforestry). Grafted trees bear earlier and are female by choice.
Thread blight is worse under heavy shade. Thin the shade trees as nutmeg grows.
Outside the tropics nutmeg needs a warm, humid greenhouse year round; it will not tolerate cold.
Sow nutmeg seed as soon as it arrives, in warm, shaded and moist conditions.
No. Nutmeg seed is recalcitrant and dies when it dries out; an Indonesian trial kept only about half of seeds viable after 12 days even in the best packaging. Sow on arrival.
Only if it is female, and you will not know until it first flowers at about 7-9 years. About half of seedlings are male, so grow several plants or use grafted females for a crop.
No. Shop nutmegs are dried kernels, and drying kills the seed.
Usually 50-80 days, sometimes up to 90. Keep them warm, shaded and moist.