How and when should zucchini seeds be soaked before planting?
To create optimal conditions for improving the germination of seeds, it is recommended that they be preliminarily prepared for transfer and planting in open soil. In this case, processing, disinfection, soaking, etc. All these activities are aimed at increasing the yield. It also improves the quality of the seeds themselves and does not infect other crops on the site.
Some seedlings have a rather dense shell, which can negatively affect rapid germination. These crops include zucchini. Therefore, such seeds are soaked without fail before planting, which allows the sprouts to come out faster and not die in the ground. To improve and accelerate the germination process, it is recommended to soak in special biological solutions.
To do this, you can use both drugs bought in the store, and prepared on your own - this will not affect the quality of soaking in any way.
Why do it?
Soaking zucchini seeds before planting in open ground allows the first sprouts to appear quickly and improve their germination. It is necessary to soak in special compounds, as well as follow a certain process. This will require gauze, water, a container and the planting material itself. It is important to use water from melted snow or from a natural source such as a well.
If it is not possible to find such a liquid, then you can buy a regular distilled one. You can also use tap water, but experienced gardeners do not recommend doing this. It should only be used in extreme cases.
The seeds are laid out on gauze, and covered with its second layer on top. After that, liquid is poured into the container, the temperature of which should be within 30 degrees. The volume of water is selected in each case individually - depending on the number of seeds.
Soaked seeds must be moved to a dark place with a temperature not higher than +20 degrees. Some experts additionally cover raw materials with plastic bags, which allows you to create the effect of a greenhouse.
It is also important to provide oxygen access to the seeds when soaking, otherwise they will disappear. It must be remembered that a long stay in a solution of planting raw materials also negatively affects it. It is necessary to keep the material on average 20 hours for it to swell.
Before the process, biological preparations can be added to the water, which will stimulate the germination and growth of seeds in the future. Among these are:
- "Zircon";
- "Epin";
- "Humat".
All these agents are added to the water and improve the germination process. If it is not possible to purchase them, then you can prepare such infusions at home. To do this, you can take chamomile, boil it and soak the seeds in this composition.
Procedure steps
To help the seeds germinate faster, improve germination and prepare them for planting in the ground, you need to soak them in warm water, the temperature of which should be within 20 degrees.
Calibration
Not all raw materials that are intended for planting in the ground can give a healthy plant. Some seeds may be damaged or diseased.Therefore, before planting in the processing process, such must be removed. Small seeds are also unsuitable for planting.
To carry out soaking quickly, you can use folk methods for selecting seeds. To do this, a few grams of salt are diluted in water, which should settle. Seeds are poured into such a solution and left in it for 60 minutes. Those seeds that can be used for further sowing sink to the bottom of the jar, and empty ones rise up. Accordingly, those that have surfaced should be thrown away. The rest are washed in running water and dried. After that, they are ready for landing during the rest of the procedures.
Disinfection
When preparing seeds, it is important to remove not only empty ones, but also diseased and damaged ones. All of them can carry a different infection that can pass to other plants and infect them. Therefore, before landing, it is necessary to disinfect.
The most effective way is to warm the seeds in water +50 degrees. The raw material is placed in a cloth bag and immersed in such an environment for 15 minutes.
It is recommended to ensure that the temperature does not decrease. After that, the seeds are dipped in a cold liquid for 2-3 minutes. Then the raw material is taken out and tapped. Now it is ready to use.
Effective remedies
When preparing the material, you can experiment using various compositions that you can prepare yourself, for example, potassium permanganate with water. There are also other ways to carry out the procedure.
Folk
For soaking, you need to take a fairly large, but shallow container. A little water is poured into it and a cloth is placed on the bottom. The gauze is folded into several layers.Then the seeds are laid out on it so that they are at a distance from each other. Then the grains are covered with a second layer of gauze and filled with water.
This container is carried to a dark and dry place where the temperature is kept within 20 degrees. During soaking, make sure that the water does not darken. When this happens, it is recommended to fill in fresh.
Periodically it is worth opening the seeds to give air access to them. Such a procedure will have a positive effect on the quality of the seeds, and will also help them not to die after planting. The whole procedure does not take much time and effort.
Professional
To accelerate the growth of seeds and increase germination, you can improve their quality. For this, it is recommended to use products that are sold in stores. Such drugs are more active and have a good effect on seeds than folk ones. If the seeds are processed in natural and folk ways, then this is a more gentle and environmentally friendly option. Everyone can choose solutions depending on their preferences.
Experienced gardeners recommend using professional tools such as Zircon and Eliton.
- "Zircon". It is based on acid, which is obtained during the processing of echinacea. It improves plant growth, strengthens roots and increases disease resistance.
- "Eliton". Stimulates growth and is based on extracts from plant ingredients. Improves germination, makes seeds resistant to diseases and negative factors. It also increases cold resistance. Often used in regions where the climate is cold.
When using all these products, you must follow the instructions that are on the package. It is also important to observe the dosage so as not to harm the embryos.
Recommendations
In addition to the above methods of soaking seeds before plantingoh, they also use other methods that are aimed at stimulating seedlings during their germination, and also strengthen the roots.
- Potassium permanganate. A weak solution is used: 2 grams of the product is diluted in water. The water should be pinkish in color.
- wood ash. In this case, 5 grams of the product is diluted in a liter of water and allowed to infuse for 4-5 hours.
- Nitrophoska. In a liter of water, 5 grams of the substance is diluted and infused for 2-3 hours. Next, the mixture is poured into a 10-liter container and pure water is added. Seedlings can be treated with the resulting solution.
Gardeners do not recommend ignoring soaking seeds. It is also important to do this procedure correctly. If the seedlings are not treated, they may freeze or grow poorly, which will affect the deterioration of the crop.
The entire soaking period will not take much time. This is usually done within a few days. Those seeds that do not hatch and germinate are removed. Only healthy seeds remain, which will give good germination.
Soaking of this material can be done immediately before planting for 2-3 days. The whole procedure is carried out at room temperature and in warm water. It takes about 24 hours to swell. Throughout this period, it is recommended to periodically open the container for air intake, as well as change the water in it.
Some experts recommend seed stratification. Such an event, although not mandatory, nevertheless, it helps to improve the properties of seedlings. Based on this measure, the immunity of plants improves, and their frost resistance also increases.
Seeds are wrapped in a cloth, watered and left in the freezer.It should be down to -3 degrees. The seeds are in the freezer for 3 days. After such a procedure, the seeds will be ready for planting even ahead of schedule. They are not afraid of frost or pests.
Even in the case when the seeds have undergone stratification, it is recommended to place them again in a saline solution after the process and see which of them will float and which will sit on the bottom: some sprouts can be negatively affected by sub-zero temperatures, and therefore they die in the freezer.
This helps to prevent the planting of obviously unhealthy seeds. The material that settles to the bottom in the tank is ready for use after stratification. The rest must be collected and thrown away.
Such events are held annually before landing. They can be used for both zucchini and other plants. The principle of operation and holding events is no different, but at the same time, in each option there are certain points that must be taken into account. To do this, germinate the seeds correctly and on the basis of advice given by experienced gardeners.
All these activities (calibration, soaking, etc.) allow you to get rid of unhealthy as well as infected seeds even before they are planted. This will prevent damage to the entire crop and infection in the soil.
Thanks to such procedures in the garden, you can get a fairly good harvest from a small area. Also, these seeds can then be collected from grown vegetables and left for next year for planting. In this case, you can protect yourself from buying materials that will not sprout or infect other crops in the garden.
The whole procedure can be done at home without the use of special tools.To do this, you only need to follow certain rules, as well as properly prepare the solution.
When using chemicals that are sold in the store, you should pay attention to expiration dates. When preparing the solution, you need to determine the exact dosage. If you increase it, it will negatively affect even healthy seeds: they may die or burn out.
Those summer residents who do not want to use chemicals sold in the store can use folk methods. There are a lot of them, and therefore such solutions and products can be prepared by everyone in their home. At the same time, it is important to pay attention to the soaking time and the entire procedure: they may be different depending on the solution used. Nevertheless, the soaking time should not exceed 24 hours. This will make it possible for the sprout to germinate with the seed, which will improve and increase germination after planting them in open ground.
Based on the above, we can conclude that all processing methods are good enough for the material. Everyone can choose any of their favorite options for soaking. If you soak the seedlings correctly, then as a result you can not worry about the future harvest: this will improve its germination in the open field.
You can see that the soaking process is quite simple, and therefore everyone can carry it out on their site or in a city apartment.
Also, experts note that soaking is carried out only after preliminary disinfection of seeds. This allows you to identify damaged seedlings, which are then disposed of, which makes it impossible for others to become infected.
For information on how to soak seeds before planting, see the following video.