Black Mustard (Brassica Nigra) - This annual culinary herb is well-known as the old-fashioned mustard that gave the condiment its start. Quickly grown from Mustard seeds, the Mustard plant produces herb seeds which are ground and used to spice many different foods. The mustard seeds are small, hard and vary in color from dark brown to black. Black Mustard is more powerful in flavor than yellow mustard, but it is not grown commercially due to the difficulty of harvesting with equipment because of the irregularity of plant size.

Mustard seed | black

Plant specifications

The Black Mustard herb plant has a sturdy stalk with wrinkled, lobed, and dark green leaves. Yellow, 4-petaled flowers appear on spikes in early summer. Both the seed and the greens of this herb plant are used. The greens can be cooked or steamed, but as the summer gets hotter, the greens get stronger with a bitter taste.

Black Mustard plants are often grown in two crops during the season to keep a supply of the young greens. Black Mustard seeds come in the summer heat as the plant bolts. The plant size can vary from 24 inches to 72 inches in height, depending on the conditions where it is growing.

• Sowing Rate: 5000 seeds per 600 square feet or 10 - 12 lbs/per acre
• Average Germ Time: 14 - 21 days
• Keep moist until germination
• Attracts bees and butterflies
• Depth: 1/2 inch

How to grow

How To Grow Black Mustard Seeds: Start Mustard seeds directly outdoors a couple of weeks before the end of frost season. Prepare a seedbed with lot of organic matter added to the soil and cover the herb seeds with 1/2 inch of soil.

• Height: 24 - 72 inches
• USDA Zones: 4 - 7
• Season: Annual

White Mustard (Sinapis Alba Nemagon) - This variety of white mustard is used for cover crops with outstanding nematode suppression. It hinders the life cycle of nematode larvae and acts as a natural biofumigant when turned in to the soil just before flowering. This high protein forage crop has high nitrogen content and increase soil tilth.

Nemagon white mustard seeds also contains high levels of glucosinate which is a compound similar to those found in commercial soil fumigants. It also features exceptional fast growth forming a compact covering to obstruct weeds.

The deep root system does a great job of re-utilizing nutrients that may have filtered past the root zone of crop plants. The tap root grows to a depth of three feet which helps break up soil and scavenge nutrients. Use Nemagon white mustard seed as a winter cover crop in home gardens, crop rotations and vineyards. It provides natural weed suppression, increased tilth, and increased organic soil matter. Nemagon is high in sulfer, which can become available to the subsequent crop when the mustard is incorporated in to the soil. Do not permit the mustard to go to seed or it could become a field impurity.

Seeding Rate: 10 - 12 lbs per acre