What is a light detergent for use on spinach seeds?

Discussion in 'Fruit and Veg Gardening' started by Griphook, May 16, 2008.

  1. Griphook

    Griphook Seedling

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    None of my spinach came up. I bought another variety and my aunt said to soak the seeds overnight. On the packet it says to "wash in a light detergent and then soak overnight." What is considered a light detergent? I'll also take any spinach hints.
     
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  3. Biita

    Biita Arctic-ally Challenged Forager

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    i'm sorry Griphook, but i never plant spinach, no need to, i have dandelions.

    But a light detergent would be one with out all the sulfers added, more natural i guess. Here in Norway we have one called Green Soap. the closest i can think in American terms to that would be Murphys Oil Soap.
     
  4. GardenGuru

    GardenGuru New Seed

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    Griphook, there is a company called Shaklee that makes a product called Basic-H.
    It is made from the alfalfa plant and it is a water conditioner and a mild cleaner.
    I put a few drops in some water and soak my spinach seeds over night. Doing this gives me about 80-90% germination.

    Just google the company and you can find someone near you that sells their products.
     
  5. flowerpower313

    flowerpower313 Seedling

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    Light detergent means something like dish detergent. And never use any that say antibacterial on seeds or plants.
     



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  6. Sjoerd

    Sjoerd Mighty Oak

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    I've never heard of washing and soaking spinach seeds before planting. Keep us posted on how this works.
    Maybe it's the kind of seeds that I use, but I always get an excellent germination rate. There are different types of spinach. I use the one commonly called "Perpetual Spinach". You can just keep harvesting it time after time without it "shooting through". I continue to harvest it right on through the winter with the purple sprouting broccoli and Swiss chard.
     
  7. lexxivexx

    lexxivexx In Flower

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    I've never heard of washing either. What I did with my Spinach, as I was worried about how old the seeds might be, was sprout them indoors using the baggy method and just as they began to show I planted them in an outdoor container. This worked quite well. As usual, I tried just planting some seeds directly in the ground to have a basis for comparison and only about 30% came up and developed much slower.
     
  8. GardenGuru

    GardenGuru New Seed

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    My Spinach is up and it looks like every seed I put in the ground came up. Can't wait for that first fresh Spinach salad. :-D

    I grow a variety called Giant Noble and get good results. It is slow to bolt and still grows good if the weather turns hot. Also does good in the fall.
     

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