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 in a 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