Is it necessary to soak seeds in water before sowing? Does Soaking Seeds Before Sowing speed up germination? The answer is that is not necessary to soak the seeds before sowing, but it sure does speed up germination a big time.
Soaking seeds before planting is an old-time gardener’s trick that many new gardeners may not know about. The benefit of soaking seeds before planting is that your germination time will be reduced means you can grow plants faster.
Supplies
Vegetable Seeds - Seeds that are looking more like grain or have a hard coat can be soaked like: tomato, cucumber, corn, pumpkin, squash, zucchini, peas, beans, etc... But seeds like radish, dill, carrots I do not soak in water as it will be impossible to plant them.
Water - Room temperature water is best for soaking seeds.
Simple steps
Place seeds you're planning to plant into a small container. Fill the container with a room temperature of water half full.
Place the containers on the safe place (I place them on the window sill). Let the seeds soak in the water for 24 to 48 hours before planting. Too much soaking in water and the seeds will drown and it starts to decompose.
There might be a few floaters, and I usually toss them away since most of the time they will not germinate.
Once the seeds have puffed up, plant them into moist soil immediately. Keep the soil well-watered until the seeds are out of the soil and growing.
Is it necessary to soak seeds in water before sowing? Does soaking seeds speed up germination? The answer is that is not necessary to soak the seeds before sowing, but it sure does speed up germination a big time.
- Vegetable Seeds - Seeds that are looking more like grain can be soaked like tomato cucumber, pumpkin, squash, zucchini, peas, beans, etc... But seeds like radish, dill, carrots I do not soak in water as it will be impossible to plant them.
- Water - Room temperature water is best for soaking seeds.
-
Place seeds you're planning to plant into a small container. Fill the container with a room temperature of water half full.
-
Place the containers on the safe place (I place them on the window sill). Let the seeds soak for 24 to 48 hours before planting.
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Nice post
Thank you!
Thanks for the info!
You are very certainly welcome!
What kind of cucumber seeds do you usually buy? What kinds of tomatoes are good to grow at home?
I order all the seeds from Ukraine from the Nikitovka Seeds at http://www.nikitovka.com. They have a big variety and the shipment time is not very long.
Thanks so much!!
You are very certainly welcome!
Hello Valya, I really enjoyed reading your article about soaking seeds before sowing, I found it very helpful. Thank you, Richard
Hello Valya, I might have gotten a late start on my vegetable seeds, but I'm going to see how they will work out even though I may have gotten a late start. I did my vegetable seeds starter pots. I put them in on May 11, 2021 I live in Nebraska. I planted cucumbers and tomatoes. I might have not added enough water to my mix. I used Ferti-lome High Performance Container Mix. I just recently bought Eleanor's CF-11. I have some sprouts on my cucumber and nothing yet on my tomatoes. I did buy a led plant light just recently. There is a nursey that still has some vegetables plants left, but not too many. I might buy some cucumbers and tomatoes plants in case they don't grow. My mom who lives in South Dakota says it not to late. I haven't planted since I was a little kid. I hope there is still some time left for other vegetables to try. What do you think? Thank you, JoAnne
I've never used vegetable seeds starter pots. I like to go the simple (old fashioned;) way. It has been almost a week and the tomato plants should sprout by now. Did you use fresh seeds?
Valya, I have also notice some people put plastic covers over their seeds after they put them in seed starter pot. I guess it might be for the seeds not to dry out to fast. What do you think about the plastic covers? Thanks, JoAnne
Like I said I prefer growing things the simple way, and the vegetable seeds starter pots with plastic covers are not necessary to grow vegetable plants from seeds. Good potting soil and seeds, light, and proper temperature will do the job!
will try that technique
Let me know how it goes.
Great information here! Much appreciated from a couple new growers.
You are most welcome!