I recently read somewhere that cinnamon is a natural fungicide.
These ichang papeda seeds looked shriveled up when I got them. They looked like they may have been harvested before they were ripe. But, I’ve never seen these seeds before so I don’t know.
After a short time a fungus or bacteria started to make them look fuzzy. So, I put some cinnamon powder on them.
The fuzziness went away but I thought they looked dead. The dark red-brown cinnamon didn't help the look.
Though I gave up on them I didn't throw them away. I noticed today that one of them had started to germinate.
It's a good day.
Terry

Yes, cinnamon has anti-fungal properties. It can kill off yeasts that often surround the seeds because of the sugary pulp. When making cinnamon wine for example, I would add cinnamon at the very end of fermentation. If you add cinnamon at the beginning, there is no way you'll get nice flavored wine.

But sometimes, you need some microorganisms to eat at the seed coat or shell to help the plants germinate. It has been like that for several millions of years. Only when we have altered the ecosystem via agriculture that we have to micromanage even the tiny things such as germinating seeds.

There are also microorganisms that cinnamon powder encourage, and fortunately, most of them are not pathogenic to plants.

I recall reading a while back that a Japanese researcher was looking at an extract of cinnamon as a plant fungicide. I have some nice thick scrolls of natural Balinese cinnamon ( about 4mm thick) and quite strong flavoured.
Now trying it as a cold 'tea' on some weak plants. What micros does it encourage ? Any good references on this ?