I'm direct seeding squash and cucumber seeds today, after soaking them in lukewarm rain water for about 24 hours. I think :?: the hydration lets them germinate quicker. I also soak melon and bean seeds. Do you soak your larger, hard seeds before planting?
I soak seeds that I have had for a while to make sure they will germinate and Beans, Morning Glories, Moonflower...pretty much any of the hard ones.
I soak larger, hard seeds and morning seeds. If I happen to forget them I can plant little sprouts. dooley
It's funny. Not sure what to say about soaking. I tried with aloe polyphylla, agapanthus, and a few others... (well, leaving them in water until small roots appeared then planted) but I realized the ones directly planted grow much faster... ALSO... i have had some bad experience with the "nicking-soaking" method. The seeds always rotted. With veggies could be a different story. I don't deal with them. Mom does. But I always see jars of cucumber, tomato, beans, peas, and maybe other seeds... soaking!
I do not soak any seeds. I have soaked sweet pea seeds and parsnip seeds in the past; but I do not find that I need to soak them to have success, so I do not spend time on that anymore.
I tried soaking seeds but they did not turn out well, they usually rot. Maybe it is the weather here.
My morning glory seeds have little sproouts so I guess I'd best be planting them this afternoon. dooley
I planted beans, sunflowers, hyacinth bean vines and bachelor's buttons without soaking and all came up fine... It didn'toccur to me that seeds ever need soaking... hmm, showing my ignorance, but hey, it all worked out.
No Daisybeans, it's not ignorance! Soaking seeds is just one method, perhaps a good one, perhaps not. I soak big, hard seeds for 24 hours because I'm compulsive, not because I'm smart!
I soak seeds because I am impatient and don't want to wait the 7-21 days for germination and I want to know if the seeds I have are still viable. Do what works for you
a different way... Take a small clear plastic baggie. place large seeds on paper towel that is wet with warm water.. fold the seeds into it in a layer.. then seal the baggie.. put in a warm place.. ya know how sometimes your car get's hot when parked in the sun? Or on top of the fridge.. check it every few days.. when you see sprouts plant em..
Depending on the year I soak seeds when we are having a cold wet spring. Otherwise with cool nights the seeds rot sometimes for the squash and beans. But if they don't grow fast enough they are slug food. It's always a gamble and I'm not sure if it makes any difference or not. It makes me feel better though.
I don't soak my seeds. I usually use bottom heat to help germinate or a light row cover in the garden to help keep the seeds protected and/or humid (especially for parsnips and parsley).
