It's pretty chilly there unless you have a greenhouse or other methods where you can control the soil temperature. Just about all vegetable seeds will germinate within a week at 80 - 90 degree soil temperatures. This is how greenhouses who sell vegetable seedlings start their seeds.

Needs same temps as basil to germinate but takes about a week or so longer. In our moderate winter up to a month.Summer about a fortnight.
Some folks scarify the seed by soaking it and leving it in the fridge for a fortnight but I have found it makes little difference.
If seed is old germination is poor.
Glenn

I wish I could find a way to stop it from germating . This red perilla grows by itself all ove my yard and stone driveway . I dont even water it and it does fine . Its nice to have a red driveway . This stuff seems to just self seed all over . I dont do anything so I would assume that just sprinkling the seed on top ont he dirt and keeping it damp would be the way to go . Rick

I failed with perilla last year, so this year I'm going to try pre-sprouting it using the damp coffee filter in a ziplock baggie method. -This has worked great for other seeds I've had trouble with.

Just today I found the following interesting information about germinating Perilla:

"NOTE: One of the challenges in growing Perilla is to handle the seed germination issue. Perilla seeds have dormant characteristics and seeds will not germinate during this period. The dormant period can begin any time just after the fresh seeds harvested and may end, unpredictably, in 1-2 years. Seeds will have good germination after this dormant period finished. Therefore many experienced farmers prefer to use post-dormant old seeds than pre-dormant fresh seeds in planting. It has been reported that the dormant period can be broken and shorten if seeds kept in a low temperature, 35-45 F, for 1-3 months. Therefore it is suggested to seal seeds in a bag and store it in a refrigerator(not freezer) if not to be planting soon."

It is on the Evergreen Seeds web site. I ordered some seed to hold for a future time when it is out of dormancy and I am ready to plant it. This appears to be an unusual case where old seed will germinate better.

Jim

Here is a link that might be useful: Evergreen Seeds